


Blood War (The 14th Clan)

by theoriginalwhatsubtext



Series: The 14th Clan [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alpha Clarke Griffin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Battle, Clexa kids, Crime Scenes, Drug Addiction, Dubious Consent, Emotional, F/F, Falling In Love, Girl Penis, Humor, M/M, Omega Lexa, Police, Pregnancy Kink, Raven pregnant, Rough Sex, Secret Crush, Sex, Threesome - F/F/F, Trifecta, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2018-10-19 20:38:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 36
Words: 73,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10647642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoriginalwhatsubtext/pseuds/theoriginalwhatsubtext
Summary: Seventeen years on from the events of The 14th Clan. Featuring all your favourites from the first instalment.Choosing to be a monarch and leader over anything else. Lexa is the much- loved and celebrated Queen of the Clans. A failed crusade to integrate The 14th Clan has left Lexa’s volatile Kin annexed from the rest of the coalition. The perimeter fences and heavily guarded towers have served the ruler of the known world well. Little did she anticipate that the biggest threat to peace and prosperity would come from within. Is blood truly thicker than water?





	1. I never meant to turn you into this.

 

 

_“Think not that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. A son against his father, a daughter against her mother, and man’s enemy... will be the members of his household.”_

 

* * *

 

 

As daylight faded, long legs strode with urgency through the great hall of Polis. Heavy boots boomed out the wearer’s infinite power, like raging claps of thunder. As those bulky boots crashed down onto the marble surface below, the wearer’s gaze remains transfixed, straight ahead; dark eyebrows pressing downwards into a focused scowl.

Thirty-seven years of age and still Heda’s eyes blazed like unforgiving wildfire.

A young aid straightened his back as his monarch rapidly approached.

_“The Natblida army surround us now, My Queen.”_

The commander towered over her tactical maps while the clashing of swords and blasting of gunfire serenaded the much-loved Queen of the clans from outside her tower’s great window.

_“How fairs Azgeda?”_ Lexa’s tone demanded an immediate response.

_“Echo has had to take command of the Ice nation forces.”_ The aide confirmed Lexa’s worse fears.

_“What of Roan?”_ Lexa enquired.

_“He…he is dead.”_ The young aid mumbled.

Lexa’s green gaze landed upon the aid, her expression marred with disappointment.

_“Raise your voice properly when you speak of such a valiant warrior’s demise.”_ Her tone was stern.

The aid cleared his throat. Bringing his feet together and making his spine rigid like steel, the aid pushed his shoulders back and puffed his chest outwards.

_“Forgive me, Heda!”_ The aid composed himself.

 Lexa mirrored the teenage aide’s stance.

_“Did he die well?”_ The commander’s tone dripped with pride.

The aid faltered before responding. Lexa witnessed the colour drain quickly from his young face.

_“They say the Natblida queen removed his heart with her bare hand; her claws sliced through his flesh_ _,_ _then her fist shattered through bone. Her fingers…they pushed_ _easily through, into his chest cavity. No warrior has ever seen anything like it in all their days! He was still alive as she ripped the organ from his body.”_

The aide shuddered at the thought.

Lexa brought her gaze back to the young man that stood in front of her. The ferocious heat in her stare almost warmed the skin of his face.

_“Did she now!”_ Lexa spat.

The aid nervously cleared his throat.

_“Still, the Natblida army keeps coming, your majesty. They do not stop!”_

Lexa’s eyes scanned the furthest boundaries of her tactical maps; the large sheets of colourful cloth were spread out across the great dining table which could no longer serve its domestic purpose. No longer did this chunk of wood hold host to great banquets or celebratory feasts. Gone were the days of social pleasantries and family gatherings. War. War was the only thing on the Queen’s mind. The ruler of the known lands had planned for every eventuality, never accepting defeat as a possibility.

_“And the Desert clan?”_ Lexa folded her arms as she pondered her next move.

_“They have fallen_ _._ _They are corrupted. They join the ranks of her dark army._ _We await word from San and Trishana-kru. We’re unsure as to how far the attack has spread?”_

 The aide replaced the Desert clan piece with a black alternative version. He studied the maps in detail, his Queen by his side.

_“Tell me at least Flou-kru keeps the tower’s boundary secure?”_ Lexa’s face flashed with worry.

_“Yes. They fight side by side with Skai-kru. Our Prime and Zinnia continue to hold the gates to Polis.”_

Lexa turned away momentarily thinking on what best to do. She paced slowly around the table, hands clasped behind her back. The aide’s nervous tone called after her.

_“There...there is something else you should be aware of.”_ The aide’s voice trembled.

“Speak quickly!” Lexa’s top lip curled as she came to an abrupt stop on the opposite side of the table.

The young man took a moment to steady himself.

_“It’s Luna, your highness. She has been seen at the gates of Polis_ _. She fights to secure our safety within the Tower.”_

Lexa’s eyes morphed into a deathly shade of black. Thick veins of blood lifted to the surface, as the Queen’s mood turned shades darker.

_“What did you just say?”_ Heda spoke through gritted teeth.

_“Luna...she is fighting at the gate with our Prime.”_ The aid struggled to hold Lexa’s incensed gaze.

“ _She is pregnant!”_ Lexa slammed her fist down on the table as she shouted.

The aide stepped back.

_“She will not be told, your Majesty! She defies you. Your rule that she should not leave the tower has been ignored - yet again!”_ The aide held up his hand in defence.

Lexa balled up her fist. Luna! Again, she had defied Lexa’s order to remain in a “safe” place.

The aide thought to change the subject quickly.

_“Chancellor Kane and Linkon co-ordinate the attack on the Natblida that attempt to take Trinity.”_

_“Raven Reyes and Bellamy struggle by their side. And…there is an added complication within Trinity’s walls.”_

_“Tell me!”_ Lexa remained enraged still by Luna’s disobedient nature.

_“Octavia’s eldest daughter, she has gone into labour! Abby and Jake are luckily secured inside Trinity with her.”_

Lexa closed her eyes for a moment. So much information in such a short space of time! The Queen inhaled deeply. The aide hovered around Lexa, apprehensively.

_“Should we perhaps send word to Echo?”_ The boy finally suggested.

Lexa stepped away from the table, staring towards the noise of battle outside the great window.

She kept her eyes on the horizon as she spoke.

“ _No... tell Flou- kru to withdraw my personal guard from their ranks. They will aid Kane at Trinity. They are the finest warriors we have, I will not have Octavia and her daughter at risk. I cannot let Skai and Flou-kru fall as the Desert clan have. Inform them to fall back to the tower._

_Ensure you send Luna straight to me!”_ Lexa snarled.

The young aid stepped forward bravely, forgetting himself for a moment.

_“Retreat! Not one of the 13 clan’s retreats! We fight for our Queen. We fight for you always, Heda!”_ The aide spoke passionately, His fists clenched and his eyes brimming with tears.

Lexa took slow steps towards her aide, her eyes set upon his.

_“Yet you stand in front of her now, rebelling against her commands! You are no better than Luna!”_ Lexa raised her voice.

The young aide jumped as Lexa’s voice reverberated around the high walls.

Lexa breathed in deeply again as she attempted to calm her nerves. She noted how the young aide flinched in her presence.

_“Out of all my subjects, you would think my own family would show more respect for my rule.”_ Silence filled the great hall; the teenage aide lowered his head.

_“My apologies...mother.”_

Lexa felt her heart defrost as the word mother left her son’s lips.

_“Jago...please. Will you at least do as your mother tells you, if not your Queen.”_

_“It has been a most trying day, Your Majesty. Forgive my insolence.”_

Lexa’s eyes softened slightly.

_“Come here.”_ The Queen held out her hands.

Jago stood towering over his much shorter mother; Heda’s first-born son had certainly made up in his teen years for his tiny size as an infant.

_“What is this that attempts to grow upon your face?”_

 Lexa quirked a brow at her son’s attempt at growing a beard. The wispy blonde hairs covered his throat and jaw in patches. Lexa cupped her son’s face gently in her hands, his cobalt blue eyes watering and his brow creasing at the soft touch. Looking at her handsome boy now, it made Lexa’s heart stir; this pretty boy was unmistakably Clarke Griffin’s son.

Jago allowed his face to sink into his mother’s powerful, yet soothing touch.

_“You have done well. You serve well as my aide. You will make a fine First Minister,_ _but you must do as I command always_ , _my son.”_

_“Yes, mother. I mean...Your Majesty.”_ Jago bowed.

Lexa pulled her giant of a son into a warm embrace. The stoic warrior Queen allowed herself to sink into the moment. Her son in her arms, his heartbeat strong and full of pride and promise. The sound of the battle outside was quickly drowned out by the love currently enveloping mother and child.

_Bang!_

And suddenly the moment was put to an end all too soon. A sweating Clarke burst through the main doors to the hall. The heavy wooden panels banging against the adjacent walls with the force. A blood-covered Zinnia and Luna lingered in the background, behind the Prime. The three intruders had spoilt Lexa’s maternal moment.

_“Luna!”_ Lexa chastised immediately, releasing her son from her arms.

Luna quickly wiped the blood from her face.

_“It is not my blood, Aleksandria_!” Luna replied.

_“Where were you told to remain!”_ Lexa snapped.

Jago witnessed the warm, loving mother shift into the authoritative ruler of the known world.

_“Leksa! let me expla-”_

_“Why will you not just do as I command?_ ” Lexa cut Luna off.

_“I cannot just sit in my night robes and do nothing as our enemy gathers outside our front door, Leksa!”_ Luna hollered back.

Lexa let her focus fall to a very pale Clarke.

_“_ What _is wrong? Why have you left your post? I have called a retreat to the tower.”_ Both Clarke and Zinnia’s faces fell, shrouded in sadness.

Silence filled the great hall. Clarke placed a comforting arm over her oldest Alpha daughter’s shoulder. Zinnia allowed her head to momentarily rest against her sire’s comforting embrace. The mother in Lexa noted the hurt painted across Zinnia’s handsome features.

_“What is it?_ Lexa pressed for an answer.

 Jago swiftly picked up on his sister’s upset. The blonde siblings sharing a knowing look.

 Clarke kept her voice low, her heart now hammering in her chest. An inexplicable need to succumb to tears was quickly overtaking her. The tell-tale crack of emotion littered the Prime’s tone, as she stood before her family.

“Lexa...she’s at the gate.” Clarke sighed.

 .........................................................................................................................

The battle at the gates of Polis had paused. Luna’s Flou-kru warriors stood side by side with tooled up Skai-kru. They formed a corridor with their bodies from which their Queen could approach the gates. Each warrior bowed their head as Lexa strode confidently through. The Queen’s pauldron was secured tightly to her right shoulder, her sharp swords fixed firmly to her long back. Lexa’s green eyes focused on the large solid steel gates to Polis’s. The massive gates towered to a height of thirty feet. Two guard towers flanked either side and rose even higher.

Murphy and Miller stood with their automatic rifles pointed at the waiting Natblida below. The atmosphere was tense, one false move and either side could strike the spark into battle again. A tall, muscular form approached the gate; his eyes black, his skin sallow as his Natblida Queen’s infection spread through his veins. Murphy looked through his rifle’s crosshairs, the crest of Azgeda was clear to see on the muscled man’s blood-soaked bicep. That once passionate Azgeda warlord, now firmly belonged to the wicked Natblida Queen.

_“Our Queen will speak to the false monarch only!”_ The large man’s voice boomed.

Lexa did not react to the slur on her legitimacy as ruler. Instead, her eyes fell on the approaching form of the Natblida Queen. The setting sun behind the ruthless enemy of Polis allowed Lexa to see nothing but a slow-moving silhouette. As the sun dipped behind a passing cloud, the young Natblida Queen came into full view.

An all too familiar voice stung Lexa’s ears and wounded her heart.

_“Hello_ _… mother.”_

The word hung painfully in the air.

_“Hello … Dahlia.”_

Lexa’s eyes briefly scanned her lost daughter. The gifted red sash trailing behind the seventeen-year-old had meant so much to her when she was a little girl. Now, it was soaked with the blood of her own people. The irony stabbed at Lexa’s soul, violently.

_“Polis will fall, mother.”_   Dahlia’s eyes gleamed with confidence.

Lexa’s face remained unchanged. Outwardly, she shone with nothing but nerves of steel and stone. Inside though, Lexa had one question endlessly looped around her spiralling mind.

How on earth had it all come to this?

 

 

 


	2. Five

 

_"Don't know what you're expecting of me? Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes."..._

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Back in the early days…when the triplets were almost six years old…_

 

Queen Aleksandria of the united clans rebelled…just as her skai-beast had come to expect.

Clarke Griffin could have been much more successful in her endeavour to pin her mate down…if that was what she truly she wanted.

That feeling, of sharp Omega claws, digging into warm Alpha flesh; that sensation was far too satisfying to give up. Clarke loved the way Lexa resisted her advances like this. The way the Queen refused to allow herself to be taken, at least not without a decent fight.

Grappling frenziedly upon Lexa’s large bed, Clarke remained very much on top of her wild Trigirl.  Lexa defiantly bucked her hips beneath her grinning Alpha though, making it tough for the beast to give the Queen exactly what she needed.

This performance was in no way a new dance for the mated pair. It was at this time of the month when the Earth located itself directly between the Sun and the Moon. When the tide seemed much more savage in its assault of the shore.…this was the time Lexa found herself hot and frantic for Clarke’s length. The full moon seemed to torment Omegas much more so than their Alpha counterparts. Clarke would ready herself for the intense rawness of these days. This period tended to sneak up on Lexa, whereas the smug beast was all too aware of how sexually aroused her mate was about to become.

Right now, mid-battle for dominance, Lexa was glad that Clarke was the only person seemingly immune to the intoxication of her blood. Six years into their pairing and the great Queen’s ichor had not evolved to the point that it could overcome the mighty Skai-beast.

Clarke’s inexplicable resistance to _night-blood_ made her a worthy opponent in the bedroom. Apart from Clarke, Lexa would inevitably dominate any other lover. Either that or she would have to feign weakness in their presence. Quite simply, Lexa had no chance of matching such superior strength. Clarke possessed the ability to overpower Lexa whenever she wanted. The Omega could only rely on her physicality, rather than her powers to dislodge the wolf above her. Lexa found this a great a turn on. Clarke’s ability to conquer her was incredibly satisfying to the much-feared commander.

_“Just lay still, Lexa!”_ Clarke growled at her disobedient mate.

_“I will not!”_ The girl snarled in response.

Lexa twisted and turned her wrists as best as she could. The Omega desperately trying to free herself from the prime’s tight grip.

_“I know what you want!”_

Clarke pressed her excitement forcefully against Lexa’s sex.

On instinct, Heda wrapped her long legs around her beast. Their bodies now soldered together. Clarke felt Lexa’s wet centre pressing against her lower abdomen. The prime could feel her mate's sex throbbing, soon enough, Lexa would need to surrender.

_“Confess… how much you do you want to be inside me?”_ Lexa whispered into Clarke’s ear as she squeezed her thighs tightly around her hips.

_“It’s the only thing I’ve thought about all day!”_ Clarke clenched her teeth together as Lexa scrapped short Omega fangs across her muscled shoulder.

_“Say it then! Who is your Queen?” Lexa purred._

_“You’re not in charge here, Lexa!”_ Clarke took her mate by surprise as she lifted her from the mattress, tossing the arrogant commander back down again without ceremony as if she weighed nothing at all. Clarke moved quickly before the flustered Omega could prepare a defence. The beast brought sharp fangs to her pompous mate's throat, biting down harshly.

A gratified scream filled the candlelit room, as long canines penetrated through soft skin. Clarke finally felt able to release Lexa’s hands, convinced the Queen was now closer to a state of submission.

As the two kissed, Lexa tasted nothing but the sweet honey tang of her blood on Clarke’s lips. The prime then finally lowered a hand within the sheets. Her intentions were simple, direct the head of her cock towards her Omega’s opening. It was long overdue. The prime had been very patient.

Clarke noted the girlish gasp as that fat, fleshy end, sought entry into soft folds.

_“Take it from me, please!”_ Lexa panted. She now clung to Clarke's shoulders, her thighs quickly sliding apart. Her submission now gifted to the snarling beast above.

_“Yu gonplei ste odon.”_ Clarke whispered to her defeated woman.

SLAM!

The bedroom door violently swinging open was the last thing the couple needed…

Two sets of thundering bare feet made themselves known in Lexa’s chambers. Clarke quickly threw herself up off Lexa. Wiping molasses-coloured blood from her mouth and attempting to cover her appendage as she retreated.

_“Mother!”_ A young voice wailed.

Lexa blinked rapidly, her mind still very much on one thing. She was suddenly presented with a red in the face five-year-old, rather than her fired up Skai-beast.

_“Zinnia has stolen something that is mine!”_ Jago screamed at Zinnia from the other side of Lexa’s bed.

The Queen attempted to cover her breasts. Lexa pulled the bedsheet but found it tangled up with an equally stunned Clarke. The brunette glanced from one side of her bed to the other. The two pups exchanged insults so swiftly, Lexa found herself going dizzy glancing sharply between the two of them.

_“Jago! You’re always such a girly girl!”_ Zinnia mimicked her brother’s feminine mannerisms.

_“And you’re a fat, lazy Pauna!”_ Jago countered.

Both pups squealed at one another from either side a very trapped, very aroused Lexa. Their voices high pitched as one sibling attempted to be louder than the other.

_“Ilpleni!”_ Lexa suddenly shouted.

Both pups jumped as their mother’s authoritative tone hollered out above theirs.

Zinnia suddenly took note of Lexa’s naked form, her expression aghast as she pointed a small finger at her mother's nudity. The troublesome pup grabbed at the bed sheet, tugging it away from Lexa. The rapid action took the usually quick-witted Queen by surprise.

_“Mother! Someone has stolen your night robes!”_ Zinnia ripped back the sheet, fully exposing Lexa’s naked body to the evening air.

Clarke couldn’t help but blurt out a laugh, the look of shock on Lexa’s face was very amusing.

_“Zinnia, you belong in a zoo!”_ Jago threw an unlit candlestick at his sister.

_“I hate you, Jago!”_

Zinnia leapt up onto the bed, her bare feet pressing down into the soft mattress as she scrambled across her parents to get at her brother. Unfortunately for Clarke, she couldn’t get out of her child’s way quick enough.

_“Argh!”_ Clarke cried out, as Zinnia trod on her sire’s most sensitive area.

Lexa grimaced in sympathy pain with her Alpha mate. Clarke’s eyes watered as she collapsed forward onto Lexa.

_“She stood on my dick!”_ That was all Clarke managed to sob.

_“Zinnia! Get down! Right now!”_ Lexa gestured to the ground as she cradled Clarke’s head in her lap.

_“Look what you have done! You have injured our sire!”_ Jago shoved a now grounded Zinnia.

“ _Do not push me, little girly girl!”_

_“Mother, tell her not to call me that!”_ Jago stamped his foot at Lexa.

_“What are you fighting over now?”_ Lexa sighed, her head in her hands as she massaged her throbbing temples.

The bedroom door slowly crept open; a polite knock echoed out from the other side.

_“Just Enter!”_ Lexa shouted in frustration.

_“It is this they fight over, mother.”_

Dahlia…she politely entered her mother’s bedroom, clutching a children’s colouring book. Dahlia beckoned her rambunctious siblings out of the room.

_“Both of you, come with me.”_ The miniature Omega commanded.

Both Jago and Zinnia huffed but obeyed their older sister non-the-less.

_“Apologize to mother.”_ Dahlia pointed a finger at the two younger triplets.

_“Sorry, mother...”_ Zinnia kicked at the ground, her hands stuffed in her pyjama pockets.

Lexa watched on as her two squabbling children shook hands under Dahlia’s watchful eye. Clarke glanced up at a silent Lexa. The Queen seemed lost as she smiled on at her special little

girl.

_“She brokers peace already, look.”_ Lexa’s felt proud tears swell.

Dahlia stood as referee between her two Alpha siblings. The little girl then reached up for the handle of the door, closing it, only after she had waved goodbye to her parents.

“ _Reshop, Heda.”_ Dahlia whispered.

Lexa nodded towards her clever little girl.

Clarke remained on her side, holding her swelling privates.

_“I’m gonna be out of action for a while, Lexa. I don’t mind if you want to sleep with Luna tonight.”_ Clarke felt her Queen’s arousal still tormenting her body.

_“It can wait.”_ Lexa smiled down at her very uncomfortable mate.

_“You know, this is how we ended up making those little shits, don’t you?”_ Clarke managed a smile.

_“Yes…I understand the natural consequence of mating without skins, Klark Griffin. We have six children already.”_ Lexa fondled Clarke’s mass of curls.

_“Zinnia is getting out of hand_.” Clarke groaned

_“Your mother tells me she is almost as bad as you were at this age.”_ Lexa bit her lip in mirth.

_“I see how it is! You think Zinnia’s temperament is my fault?”_

_“It is not a fault; Zinnia simply needs more discipline.”_

There was a pleasant silence…until Clarke cleared her throat.

_“So…The mighty Skai-beast and the great Queen of the United clans. So powerful and revered… yet neither one of them has thought to put a bolt on the bedroom door!”_ Clarke sighed, her hands clutching her privates still.

Lexa smirked, playfully.

_“Perhaps I might administer some first aid_? _”_

_“You wouldn’t! You wouldn’t take advantage of me in my injured state?”_ Clarke feigned shock.

_“0h…I really don’t think you mind.”_ Lexa winked.

The prime swallowed and tightly clenched her fists; she focused on the ceiling above as Lexa disappeared downwards beneath the cotton sheet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first few chapters will indroduce the Clexa brood/Trifecta. 
> 
> Lexa will return several chapters in. The next update will see the return of Echo, Raven, octavia...etc
> 
> Yes...there will be mature rated sex. 
> 
> Braincells has created some amazing fan art for Blood war (14th Clan). As the author, I'm happy to say her depictions of the triplets are pretty much what i imagined in my head. All in the eye of the beholder i guess though.
> 
> Thank you for supporting this "Unusual" Clexa-fic.


	3. Nine

_"Can't you see that you're smothering me. Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control."...._

 

* * *

 

 

 

_As the years drifted by, Clarke Griffin’s brood grew in number. The Triplets themselves now approached the eve of their tenth birthday…_

 

From above Polis, the sun had already started its descent in the sky. The bright, yellow, midday glow morphed quickly into a late afternoon orange. In the outer grounds of Lexa’s tower, two strident Omegas paraded up and down the dusty perimeter of the sparring pit. The children of the Skai-beast were eagerly taking instruction from their warrior mothers.

_“You must hold the energy in your feet at all times. For basic movements, your feet should not leave the ground. You must maintain this energy and use it to your advantage, strike only when the time is right.”_ Lexa lectured.

Bringing order and discipline to the pups was not an easy thing. The triplets were gifted with Clarke’s speed and strength, but also her short fuse. They were gifted with Lexa’s grace and quick thinking, but also her lack of patience.

_“This is for Omegas! I do not wish to fight like an Omega!”_

Lexa rolled her eyes as a pouting Zinnia complained, yet again. Four years on, and the feisty pup was now twice the size and weight she was only a handful of years ago.

_“Zinnia, it is pressure on the floor that creates the grounded, solid look as opposed to light. Your feet should not be so loose.”_ Lexa attempted to school her unruly Alpha daughter.

“ _Can I not just...attack?”_ The young pup snarled.

“ _Brute force alone does not win a fight. It is movement, fluidity, grace. Also, it is may I attack, not can I.”_ Lexa stroked her young pup’s frowning face, the scowl on her brow so much like Clarke’s.

Jago listened intently to Lexa despite his sister’s constant interruptions. Zinnia’s short attention span was beginning to annoy the young Alpha greatly.

Luna attempted to assist Lexa with the struggling Zinnia.

“ _When your feet are in a side by side position, the trick is not to allow too much weight to bear down into the floor, try placing a piece of paper under each foot. For every move, you should be taking the paper with it. My fight master taught me that trick many years ago.”_

Frustrated, Jago shook his head at his mischievous Alpha sister. Zinnia glared back at her snooty brother.

“ _Will you explain again, mother?_ ” Jago flashed dagger eyes over his disruptive sister.

Lexa smiled as she approached her always eager to learn son. She crouched slightly, then placed her hands on his hips from behind.

“ _Your whole body is working in a figure eight shape, not just your hips. It is about the internal state of the body. Anytime an external part is moved, think about how it's created using the muscle within. Core movements are connected to all outer actions. Fighting is not unlike the art of dance._ ”

Zinnia suddenly exploded.

“ _I am not an Omega!  I do not wish to learn how to dance! I want to get to fight!_ ” Zinnia yelled, throwing the most dramatic of tantrums before Lexa.

Luna covered her mouth, attempting not to laugh. The posturing, young Zinnia was so like her sire! It amused Luna very much.

Lexa managed to keep her face straight, even though the little Skai-beast warmed her heart as it did Luna’s. Zinnia folded her arms tightly across her chest, her angry eyes burning into an equally moody Jago’s. The two siblings narrowed their eyes and pouted at one another in a mirrored show of disdain.

_“This is all_ bullshit _! Fighting is instinctive! I am an Alpha; fighting is what we do!”_   Zinnia pointed aggressively at the sparring pit, beckoning Jago with her fingers.

In a flash, Lexa spun around. She bore irate eyes into her infuriating pup.

_“What did you just say!”_

Lexa came down to her knees quickly. Her hands tightly gripping either side of the foul-mouthed pup’s arms. Luna corralled the other children away hastily, allowing Lexa to discipline her unruliest pup privately. Dahlia giggled as Jago still looked upon Zinnia disapprovingly.

_“I said a bad word again, didn’t I?”_ Zinnia blushed.

_“Where have you got this new word from?”_ Lexa pressed.

_“Echo…she says Tri-Kru fight tactics are bullsh-”_ Lexa instantly placed a hand over her pup’s mouth, before she had a chance to repeat the profanity.

Cobalt blue eyes went wide as a large adult hand muffled her words.

Lexa let out a sigh.

_“I will be dealing with Echo of the Azgeda. Next time she says a bad word in front of you, remind her whom your mother is!”_   Lexa frowned.

_“Yes, mother.”_ Zinnia sniffled.

The pups continued with their exercises. Dahlia placed pieces of paper under her Alpha sister’s feet, as Luna had suggested. Zinnia continued to offer Jago the same challenging gestures behind Lexa’s back.

_“I don’t want to be here!”_ Zinnia was free to grumble as Lexa was now out of earshot.

_“Sire will be here shortly to watch us. Will you not try to learn for her…and for me?”_ Dahlia smiled.

Zinnia huffed.

_“For you...and sire. Why is mother always so bossy?”_ Zinnia protested.

Dahlia let out a laugh.

_“She will teach us to be the finest warriors in the land. She is Heda; it is her job to be bossy.”_ Dahlia shook a finger, imitating Lexa to perfection.

Zinnia exploded into laughter. Curious, Lexa glanced across from the other side of the sparring pit, noting the two sisters stood with their hands behind their backs. They grinned back innocently to their regal mother.

Lexa cast a suspicious eye over her two daughters; they always seemed thick as thieves.

_“Ok...show me how this works, so I can get out of here.”_ Zinnia snapped.

As Dahlia continued her instruction to Zinnia, Lexa spoke privately with Luna at the edge of the sparing pit.

_“Echo again?”_ Luna asked.

_“I will remove her tongue with the dullest of blades.”_ Lexa growled.

_“I am so proud of you, controlling your dark impulses as you do, honey!”_ Luna mocked.

Lexa raised a brow at Luna’s tone.

_“What? You could have said you were going to talk to Echo, or better still - Octavia.”_

_“I would sooner lay hands on her! Bring her down in front of Zinnia.”_ Lexa grumbled.

_“That would only teach your child that violence is the answer to dispute. That war is better than peace.”_ Luna counselled Lexa.

Lexa spent a moment considering Luna’s dark brown eyes.

_“You’re correct.”_ Lexa conceded.

_“When will you learn, little Leksa? I am always correct.”_ Luna puckered up her lips as she swaggered off.

_“You will pay for your insolence.”_ Lexa called after a smirking Luna.

_“Gods, I hope so!”_ Luna winked.

Lexa lost herself for a moment. Thoughts slid through her mind over the way in which she would issue her punishment upon Luna’s body.

SHING!

_“Ahhhh!”_

A shrill squealing and the clashing of claws snapped Lexa out of her depraved fantasy. The Queen turned sharply to witness a frantic flailing of legs and arms. Two of her pups were entangled on the dirt together. It took Lexa a moment to realize what was going on.

_“Always such a girly girl!  Mommy’s little favourite!”_ Zinnia yelled as she clambered on top of a snarling Jago.

Lexa dashed towards the fight. Luna wasn’t far behind. Both Omegas were now only meters away. The speedy mothers witnessed Zinnia grip the front of Jago’s shirt, pulling him upwards towards her and recoiling her elbow like an accomplished archer. Any second, Zinnia would release a balled-up fist straight into Jago’s face.

As Lexa opened her mouth to holler her commands at a riled-up Zinnia, she screeched to a halt.

 An unseen force yanked Zinnia from her brother, launching the nine-year-old through the air. The startled pup landed in a heap on the floor, several feet away, across the training ground.

_“Leksa! How could you?”_ Luna chastised immediately as she caught up with her Queen.

Lexa remained wide-eyed. A look of surprise still marring her face as she skidded to a stop.

Lexa turned quickly to face a judgmental Luna.

_“That was not me. That was not done by my power!”_ Lexa confirmed.

Jago sat up groggily, as did Zinnia.

Luna barged past a still stunned Lexa.

Dahlia stood perfectly still. The young girl dragged in deep, rapid breaths. Her arm remained stretched outwards, her eyes black as coal, and her brow set in a dark frown.

 Luna tilted her head as she watched a stream of black blood drip from Dahlia’s left nostril.

_“Dahlia?”_ Luna approached cautiously.

_“I do not like it when they fight.”_ Dahlia panted out her words.

_“I know, baby. Did you do that?”_ Luna kept her voice quiet as she tiptoed towards a shaking Dahlia.

Dahlia nodded sheepishly, her face instantly flushing.

_“Have I been very bad?”_ Dahlia whispered.

Luna took Dahlia’s outstretched hand into her own. Dahlia flinched as she felt Luna’s warm hands enveloping her own.

_“You’re not bad, Dahlia. How did you do that though?”_ Luna glanced up at Lexa, the Queen still at a loss for words.

_“I don’t know?”_ Dahlia whimpered.

_“Hush now, it’s ok.”_ Luna pulled a teary Dahlia into a motherly embrace. The sobbing child's face now pressed against her chest.

_“Leksa! Say something.”_ Luna whispered aggressively towards her shell-shocked friend.

_“Is everything ok?”_   Clarke’s gravelly voice sounded out from across the training grounds.

_“Sire!”_ Zinnia quickly scrambled to her feet. There was a tell-tale snotty sniff of the nose indicating that tears were imminent

Zinnia ran for Clarke instantly, bursting into floods of tears as she clattered into the legs of her sire. Clarke automatically picked the upset pup up. She felt her eldest Alpha wrap her arms around her neck. A torrent of tears stained the prime’s shoulder as Zinnia attempted to hide her face.

After a beat, Jago also stood shakily. His face was red and his bottom lip trembling. Clarke struggled slightly as Jago ran to her and scrambled up her other side. The triplets were getting far too big to be held like this. Jago clung to his sire with as much ferocity as Zinnia. Clarke stood confusedly with two children in her strong arms.

_“What the hell is going on?”_ Clarke frowned at her two Omegas.

_“She is incredible…”_ Lexa mumbled to herself.

That comment raised cause for concern in Luna.

_“Dahlia…go and look at the flowers, you like the flowers do you not, sweetie?”_ Luna smiled at a sniffling Dahlia.

The mysterious dark sister nodded, before turning and slowly making her way out of the training grounds, towards the grassy banks of the hillside just beyond.

_“Clarke, would you take the two of them back to their room?”_ Luna half smiled at the prime.

Pointing at Jago and Zinnia as they continued to sob.

_“Sure.”_ Clarke eyed Luna. The prime was still unsure what had transpired. Lexa still seemed so lost in her own thoughts. Clarke trusted Luna’s judgement on the situation regardless, though.

Once alone, Luna sought to counsel her Queen.

_“Leksa, you must explain to Dahlia that she cannot just telekinetically launch her siblings through the air!”_

_“Did you see? How powerful she is already! Not even my mind could manipulate such a weight at this age.”_

_“Leksa! I am not sure this is cause for celebration!”_ Luna squeaked.

_“She is magnificent, Luna. So ... advanced! I must prepare more challenging lessons for her immediately.”_

Luna grabbed at Lexa’s arm as the Queen moved to retreat.

_“Leksa, you’re not listening to me.”_ Luna whispered.

Lexa looked down at Luna’s tight grip on her forearm.

_“It is a violation of one’s choices. To take over another’s body against their will. You of all people know this!”_

_“She split them up! Stopped from harming each other…how are her methods any different to an attempt to physically pull Zinnia off Jago?”_ Lexa shrugged.

_“It is not the same thing at all!  Zinnia was most likely terrified. Something she could not see tossed her into the air!”_ Luna raised her voice slightly, gaining Dahlia’s attention just beyond the edge of the sparring pit.

Lexa sighed. Folding her arms, defensively.

_“You have no idea what it feels like to be powerless, do you? You are as close to a god as anyone can hope to be.”_ Luna ran her eyes over Lexa.

_“If it pleases you, I will talk to Dahlia.”_ Lexa promised.

_“That is all I ask.”_ Luna released Lexa’s arm.

With one last glance at her childhood friend, Lexa turned and took long strides towards her powerful first born.

Dahlia sat alone on a patch of grass, looking out at the many flowers that popped up from the green hillside of Polis. Lexa sat herself down next to her special little girl. Mother and daughter sat staring ahead into the distance, taking in their beloved capital. The sun was starting to set, the sky above them now saturated in an unusual pinkish hue. The many buildings below cast jagged shadows across the valley Polis had been built in. The capital never looked so enchanting than at this time of day.

After some time, Lexa spoke softly to her daughter.

_“Our blood is a gift…our black blood makes us more powerful than any other. It must be treated with respect always. When it calls for you to act, you must resist and think on your choices. We must be cautious, Dahlia. Others do not understand the power that runs in our veins. They fear us so quickly.”_

_“I do not want to scare anybody, least of all my sister!”_ Guilt suddenly hit the young Dahlia.

_“You must not use your powers on your siblings again. You must not use your abilities on anyone, not until we have trained together.”_ Lexa kept her eyes ahead.

Dahlia looked up at her mother promptly.

_“You would allow me to explore and master these gifts…?”_ Dahlia couldn’t help but smile.

_“Of course, but it will take much effort and perseverance,”_ Lexa warned.

_“I am ready to learn from you always, Heda.”_ Dahlia beamed.

_“Then we will begin training tomorrow.”_ Lexa smiled at Dahlia.

_“I will not let you down, mother.”_

Lexa glanced up towards her tower’s burning flame. The beacon of Heda’s high power. The smell of paraffin and smoky wood was starting to fill the air throughout Polis tonight.

_“One day, you will be a great commander, just like me. On that day…all that is mine will be yours.”_ Lexa placed a firm hand on Dahlia’s small shoulder

 

 


	4. Seventeen

 

 

_"Every step that I take is another mistake to you."....._

 

  _As the Triplets reached their late teens, Clarke Griffin’s unique brood had grown significantly. And as for the triplets themselves? They now took on more stately responsibility within their mother’s court._

_On this day, the court of Polis continued in its Queen’s absence…_

 

* * *

 

 

  _“What are the three pillars of the Natblida_?”

A stern male voice boomed out through the chilly grand hall. Billowing clouds of cold breath escaped his chapped lips as he spoke.

A chorus of young voices sang out their daily mantra for their much-loved teacher.

_“Wisdom, compassion, strength!”_

The sound bounced beautifully off the cold walls. The minor fall and major lift of each young voice gathered in the air, like a winter’s choir in perfect tune.

The snow had been unforgiving this year across all the clans. What had started out as a great enchantment, was quickly becoming a great inconvenience. Heavy flakes like goose feathers fell from the sky daily. For weeks now, Polis remained buried under several feet of copious white

fluff.

On this day, four imposing looking siblings looked down upon their younger brothers and sisters in training. Their posture appeared rigid as they sat upon four sturdy wooden thrones. Each seat was individual in its design for its occupier. The weight of them caused the raised plinth the four thrones rested upon to creak occasionally. The cold, crisp winter air, coupled with the lack of movement, chilled the siblings to their bones.

One sibling’s posture remained intact and to an excellent standard though, regardless of the cold and discomfort she currently endured.

From the first throne, sat a fully-grown Dahlia. Her eyes never once diverted from their target. She watched every move the family’s teacher made, unable to stop herself from passing judgement on his competency. One misread word from her mother’s teachings, and the eldest and most infinitely powerful child of the Skai-beast’s large pack was ready to offer correction. Correction to the man she once called teacher herself.

The seventeen-year-old Dahlia had both the luxury and curse of being just as striking as her mother. She was the talk of Polis, chased and wanted as her mother’s beauty stained her face in perfection. Lexa’s frightening powers ran vivaciously in her eldest child’s veins, more-so than in any other of the brood. She was perhaps the most troubled though. Ominous leather cuffs donned her wrists with a large metallic fastener. The cuffs were ill-fitting with Dahlia’s stylish feminine attire. She rarely removed the accessories, however, and for a good reason.

Dahlia’s chin lifted regally to the heavens above. Her long fingers wrapped firmly around the curved ends of her throne's armrests. Her fingernails painted black and her eyes encased in dark make-up. The length of her hair was seemingly endless and Rapunzel-like. The dark- brown trestles flowed carelessly over one shoulder. The eldest of the brood may have kept her eyes focused forwards, but she kept her ears on one restless sibling behind her.

From the second seat, a temperamental teenaged blonde cursed out at her siblings, as per usual.

_“How long do I have to sit here, freezing my fucking ass off?”_ Zinnia spat out a frustrated whisper.

Dahlia’s eyes narrowed slightly on hearing her rough and ready sister’s profanity. She did not react though. Her eyes still followed her old teacher, ensuring the day’s lesson ran the course it should, and exactly per her mother’s syllabus.

From the third seat, Jago came to the aid of his sister Dahlia.

_“We sit here as long as it takes, Zinn. You should show more respect. What if mother were to hear you curse upon that throne?”_ Jago chastised his rebellious Alpha sister.

_“Shut up Jago! You’re such a bitch.”_ Zinnia snarled back at her frowning brother.

Zinnia and Jago were gifted with their mother’s cheekbones and full lips. The genetic similarities stopped there though. These two teenagers were distinctly the making of Clarke Griffin. The two blue-eyed blondes were in striking contrast to the dark hair and seafoam green eyes of their sister Dahlia.

From the fourth and final seat, Luna’s firstborn took her place by the triplet’s side as always. She was a wonderful Trifecta. Nothing short of a medical marvel in Abby’s curious eyes.

Amina…she looked very different to the triplets. Luna’s dark skin and curves were gifted kindly to Amina’s form. The soulful teen held herself together with her birth mother’s serene stance. It was rare that Amina did not greet the world with a smile. Only Lexa’s unmistakable green eyes left enough evidence behind that Heda made this child also.

Anima’s addiction to littering her body with skin art was the bane of Clarke’s life. The still controlling Prime did not approve of her impossible child’s insistent need to cover her body in tattoos. Luna would hear nothing of Clarke’s protests though. Lexa’s only request was that Amina’s face was not intruded upon by ink or needle. Clarke, as usual, was outvoted when it came to her Omegas.

On the high stage, Amina kept her voice quiet as she addressed the triplets.

_“It never ceases to amaze me, Zinnia, that you consistently open that foul mouth within my vicinity!”_

Amina kept her eyes forward as she side-mouthed her jibe at her potty-mouthed sister.

Jago replied before Zinnia could even part her lips. The tension between the three siblings was growing quickly.

_“Why should only Dahlia and myself suffer her limited vocabulary?”_ Jago whispered back grumpily to his overly tattooed sister.

_“Why does she insist on these public displays of utter idiocy.”_ Amina straightened her posture as one of the youngest pups across the hall, glanced over at her role models.

_“Because she is an idiot of course!”_ Jago smirked at Amina.

Zinnia squinted her eyes as she took her brother in. She leant forward steadily in her seat to inspect his face further.

_“What are you looking at?”_ Jago snapped at his rude sister.

_“Are you wearing Dahlia’s eyeliner?”_ Zinnia flared her nostrils disapprovingly.

Jago blushed profusely.

_“All of this is mothers’ ceremonial bullshit. I want a fucking drink and a decent lap dance.”_ The attractive blonde cracked her knuckles and slouched further down in her chair in protest. Leaving her brother to compose himself.

_“A lap dance? Your taste in Omega is always greatly disturbing to me.”_ Amina continued to tease Zinnia through a perfect toothy smile.

The younger pups in training were becoming increasingly distracted by the four older siblings. The murmurs coming from the royal stage were now constant. Their teacher glanced up occasionally, questioningly. The rude chatter was most unusual.

Jago allowed himself to laugh at Amina’s continued teasing of Zinnia. The blonde's lips were now paper thin, and her cheeks plumped up in a reddish hue. Retaliation swelled like a pre-bursting riverbank in the Alpha’s potty- mouth. Any moment now, the floodgate would open!

_“Fuck you, Jago!... you prissy looking whore!”_ Zinnia lost herself, in light of both siblings laughing at her expense.

Dahlia rose to her feet on hearing Zinnia’s words. Her eyes were still focused forward, and her back turned to the three siblings, but her attention was unmistakably on her closest kin. Amina watched on curiously as both Jago and Zinnia’s breathing became laboured. Jago’s hands shook as his powerful sister’s angered mood rumbled inside his body. The triplets connected in a way no one else could appreciate, or even begin to truly understand.

The whole court stopped as Dahlia stood. The triplet’s personal guards readied themselves to respond, just as Lexa had taught them. The muscled giants gripped their weapons nervously.

Dahlia suddenly seemed ten feet tall.

Dahlia refused still to turn and face her foul-mouthed sister. She locked eyes with her old teacher and nodded. He understood the unspoken instruction correctly. Despite her darkening eyes, the lesson was to carry on as normal. Dahlia remained in control of her darker self. The young girl battled her Natblida impulses daily, just like her mother had to.

Dahlia gave only a quick raising of her hand towards Zinnia before the eldest sibling then sat back down. Jago blew out a tortured breath as he felt his sister’s rage settle. Amina kept her eyes on Zinnia. The petulant Alpha seemed in great discomfort still.

Zinnia opened her mouth to speak, only to find no words would come. The Alpha clambered her hands around her throat as she tried again to find her voice, yet she could not.  Cobalt blue eyes shone with terror as the teen was seemingly turned mute by an unseen force.

Amina slowly took her eyes from Zinnia to Dahlia. She leant forward in her royal throne to get a better look at her mercurial sister. Dahlia’s chair was always further forward than her siblings, it spoke of her authority and standing in the pecking order.

_“Dahlia?”_ Amina whispered as the lesson continued across the hall.

_“What is it?”_ Dahlia kept her eyes focused on the lesson at hand.

_“What have you done to Zinnia?”_ Amina swallowed deeply.

Jago looked on in amazement at his silenced sibling. Clarke Griffin’s oldest son was in awe. His sister’s powers seemed to grow daily!

Dahlia let out a sigh, followed by a turn of the head. She would look directly at Amina as she spoke.

_“Our sister will have her foul mouth returned to her when this lesson is over, and we are off this stage.”_ Dahlia’s tone of voice did not brook argument.

_“Impressive.”_ Amina muttered as she sank back in her chair, glancing at Zinnia.

 

_ 15 minutes later _

 

Dahlia was the first out of her seat as the lesson concluded. She gave a respectful bow to the room as she stood. Her high-heels clicked upon the cold concrete floor as she approached the man tasked with the responsibility of teacher, the man whom her mother had moulded into the educator that currently stood before her. After all, what else could this intelligent man become? His hands trembled far too much for him to continue in medicine.

The younger pups waited patiently in line as Dahlia strode passed. She offered only a formal handshake to their teacher.

_“You have my praise, Dr Jackson. That was excellent. I’m sure my mother will be pleased when she returns from her business in Azgeda.”_

The young girl was already pulling out of the handshake as Jackson attempted to reply. Her desire to seek solitude in her quarters irresistibly called out to her. In a heartbeat, she headed for the exit.

Dr Jackson stuttered out his reply to the fleeing girl.

_“M…may I say, you will make an elegant Queen one day, Dahlia.”_

The troubled young woman stopped dead. Her eyelids squeezed tightly together as if the word Queen had somehow caused her bodily harm. A great sigh left the beautiful girl’s lips. Nonetheless, she turned to face the compliment giver.

_“Thank you, teacher. I will leave you to your affairs now.”_

Dahlia picked up the pace as she fled through the exit. Her fingertips clambered at the fastener of her mother’s red shawl. The attached pauldron quickly slipping free from her right shoulder. There was little pause before she removed the gifted fashion accessory from her person, her footsteps ceaseless as she made her way down the corridor.

_“Oi, stop!”_

From behind, Dahlia heard the heckles and pursuing footsteps of an aggrieved Zinnia.

_“Hey!”_ Zinnia shouted after her retreating sister.

Dahlia blew out a breath and pretended she hadn’t heard the calls to halt from her pursuer.

_“Dar! we need to talk!”_ Zinnia shouted again as she gained on the minutes older triplet.

Dahlia wished that her quarters were closer in this moment. Not slowing her stride, Dahlia turned down the second to last corridor off the main artery. She had no doubt that her arrogant Alpha sister would bang on the door until she opened it anyway. Still, Dahlia’s instinct was to avoid the pending confrontation. Dahlia glanced further down the seemingly empty side corridor, her feet picking up the pace as she sought to evade Zinnia. Unexpectedly, Dahlia noticed a familiar figure approaching her. The individual in question steadily coming more into focus the closer the fleeing girl got.

Trademark yellow tinted goggles; the deep in thought scowl; the curtains of hair concealing the harsh Azgeda features beneath. Ally. An all grown up Ally of the Azgeda. The peculiar pup’s face now just as chiselled as her sire’s, her mind just as sharp as her absconded mother’s.

Dahlia took a deep breath. The usually polite and well-mannered girl wanted to stop, but she desperately needed to avoid Zinnia.

_“Forgive my manners.”_ Dahlia whispered.

Dahlia strode straight past her friend.

_“Goo-”_

Ally’s mouth closed just as rapidly as it had opened. Dahlia had sped by so quickly; she didn’t even get a chance to say good morning! Her confusion was quickly abated when the good-looking Ice-pup spotted Dahlia’s stalker steaming down the corridor. The Azgeda wolf thought quickly, placing her body on a collision course with the younger Alpha.

The two dogs crashed into each other, without injury.

Zinnia snarled at the seemingly clumsy Ally.

_“Sorry.”_ Ally looked back towards a thankful Dahlia. The brunette was now looking over her shoulder and smiling at her quick-thinking friend.

_“Get of my way! You’re such a fucking freak, Azgeda!”_ Zinnia barged past Ally.

_BOOM!_

By now, Dahlia had slammed the door to her quarters.  The stressed teenager slumped back against the thick oak barrier. The young girl breathed in deeply then recanted her mother’s calming mantra.

_“What are the pillars of the Natblida...Wisdom, strength, compassion.”_

Dahlia’s black blood, for days now, ran hot and hostile in her veins. The young girl found clinging to her light more challenging each morning she awoke. She speedily repeated her mother's teachings one last time, before moving herself from the entryway.

A slightly delayed Zinnia barged straight into Dahlia’s inner sanctum.

_“What the hell was that? You can’t just do that!”_ Zinnia’s face morphed into a wolfish glamour as she yelled from the doorway at her seemingly calm and collected sister.

Dahlia began to strip out of her regal attire as her sister huffed and puffed. Jago and Amina arrived promptly after the irate Zinnia.

_“If you have the audacity to barge into my PRIVATE chambers, at least have the mind to be somewhat more articulate, sister!”_ Dahlia glared at her Aryan looking sibling as she pulled a simple t-shirt over her head.

_“You promised mother! You promised her you would not use your gifts on us…on me!”_ Zinnia blushed at the memory of having her choice to speak removed.

Dahlia disappeared into her en-suite bathroom. She returned moments later with a damp cloth in her hand. She turned her back on her sister and Zinnia’s wounded -Alpha pride. Dahlia proceeded to remove the makeup from her face. She glanced into the top corner of her large mirror as her brother came partially into view.

_“What gives you the right to do that to me!”_ Zinnia kicked out at Dahlia’s dresser as her sister meticulously removed her eyeliner. Her makeup and assorted trinkets leapt off the wooden surface as it trembled at the quake Zinnia had caused.

Dahlia whirled around on her bare feet, suddenly in Zinnia’s personal space.

_“What gives you the right to act like a common thug when you are meant to be the future prime of this pack!”_

Zinnia stepped back. Dahlia’s face was nothing but a carbon copy of an irate Lexa. Zinnia would never admit it, but she remained terrified of her mother much more so than her sire. Just one look was enough from Lexa, and the muscled beast in the making would fall in line. The fury emblazoned across her older sister’s face sent a jolt of fear up the Alpha’s spine.

Dahlia attempted to calm herself. She witnessed a childhood fear of their mother’s wrath flash across Zinnia’s eyes.

_“Please, just get out.”_ The reluctant future Queen-to-be whispered.

Amina rested her hip against Dahlia’s doorframe. Her posture as nonchalant as her chilled out birth mother’s. The easy-going girl folded her arms as she watched her siblings bicker.

Dahlia ran her eyes over her soulful sister. Amina’s powerful inner light was always a profound sense of calm to the ever-changeable Dahlia.

_“I am sorry if I scared you all.”_ Dahlia offered.

Zinnia stood a little taller.

_“I wasn’t scared!”_ The Alpha lied.

_“Of course not, my mistake.”_ Dahlia held up her hands in apology.

Zinnia paused for a moment.  Her face painted in deliberation. The pumped-up Alpha cleared her throat.

_“Will you tell mother of my behaviour today at court_?”

_“Of course not.”_ Dahlia threw the damp cloth down. She pinched the skin at the top of her nose.

Her sister never failed to bring on a migraine.

_“Then I will not tell her that you broke your promise to her.”_ Zinnia smirked.

_“She will know regardless. I am amazed she hasn’t burst through the door already.”_   Dahlia sighed.

Dahlia gave a shake her head. Nothing escaped her mother, not when it came to her children.

Especially not when it came to Dahlia.

_“Mother does not return from Azgeda for three days.”_ Jago suddenly piped up.

_“Then this dispute is at its end, sister.”_ Dahlia held out a hand, a silent peace offering.

The blonde prime in the making took the hand immediately, pulling her gifted sister into a strong, clumsy hug. Dahlia held her wayward sister close. Relieved that they were no longer at odds.

_“Is something wrong? Are you struggling? You haven’t been yourself for days now.”_ Zinnia whispered into Dahlia’s ear.

Dahlia blushed as her sister released her from the affectionate embrace.

_“I am fine. There is a lot of responsibility placed on me in mother’s absence. I ask that you make my day easier, sister, by following mother’s rules.”_ Dahlia glanced at a nodding Jago.

_“Ok…for you I will try.”_ Zinnia sighed.

Dahlia raised a Lexa like brow at her rebel sister.

_“What? Don’t look at me like that. There’s just so many fucking rules to remember.”_   Zinnia scoffed.

Dahlia smiled at her easily distracted sibling.

_“Perhaps when you find yourself with sixteen children, you will also see sense in order and rules as mother does.”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Trifecta

 

_"Everything that you thought I would be, is falling apart, right in front of you."..._

 

* * *

 

 

  _The day that Amina arrived was a day Lexa would never forget._

Lexa and Clarke collided in the hospital corridor abruptly. The couple having received the news separately that Luna had gone into labour. Lexa’s mind flashed with disturbing images of what kind of monster she had created within her lover?

Lexa had been loitering aimlessly in the corridors of the medical facility. Stress and anxiety had made an unusual appearance on the usually brazen Queen. After colliding with her mate, Clarke grabbed hold of Lexa’s hand, snapping the commander out of her daydream. The two ran hurriedly down the corridors of Skai-Kru’s medical facility, totally missing Jake waving manically at them both in the reception area.

As the pair entered the medical bay, Luna was already gripping mercilessly at the metal guardrail of the hospital bed. The tough Omega was up on her knees and pushing down, her teeth clenched, her brow dripping with sweat.

_“I want this child out of me, right now!”_ A demonic, throaty cry ripped from Luna’s lips.

 Clarke miss-stepped, flailing comically, as she clumsily pulled on her scrubs. The athletic prime almost toppled over upon hearing Luna’s screams.

Lexa bypassed the scrubs altogether, at least until Abby suddenly blocked her path.

_“Lexa, Scrubs! Right now!”_ Abby pointed at the pile of green overalls.

_“There is no time.”_ Lexa attempted to barge past a frowning Abby.

The tough grandmother threw out an arm again. Lexa scowled at the doctor, her face drawn with an angry expression that read nothing but, _do you know who I am!?_

Abby held Lexa's darkening eyes, determined to out-rank the stressed out Natblida.

_“Whenever you’re in_ this _hospital, I'm the god damn Queen, Lexa. Not you! Scrubs, right now!”_ Abby commanded.

Despite being disgruntled at having been ordered around like a peasant, Lexa complied with Abby’s forced request. Lexa looked peculiar; her usual elegant form was wrapped in unflattering paper trousers and an ill-fitting green disposable shirt, but at last, she was being given permission to see her childhood companion.

The nervous commander rushed to Luna’s side, grasping her hot paw tightly in her own shaking hand. Luna felt her other hand gathered up by Clarke on the opposite side of the bed.

_“We are here now, friend.”_ Lexa kissed the back of Luna’s hand.

_“Are you ready, Luna? Can you push again for me?”_ Abby asked.

 

 

After what felt like an eternity to Luna, Amina was finally born into the world.

Lexa peered apprehensively at the wailing baby that had slipped free from Luna. There was no sign of hoofs and horns. No murky dark eyes. No venomous veins pumping with toxic, wicked blood as Lexa had initially feared. There was only a chubby naked baby with plumes of Luna’s trademark hair.

_“It's a little girl, Luna. She’s beautiful.”_ Abby’s eyes sparkled affectionately as she stared down at her latest granddaughter.

_“One more for the team, kiddo! That one’s a line-backer for sure. Look at the size of her!”_ Jake shouted from behind the glass window of the medical bay.

Clarke smiled at her father’s silly comments.

_“You will run tests? You will check there is nothing wrong of course?”_ Lexa pursued Abby around the operating theatre as the doctor wrapped the baby in a swaddle.

_“Lexa, will you relax. You’re driving me crazy!”_ Abby turned to find Lexa mere centimetres from her face. She passed the baby over to its stressed-out blood mother.

The confident, commanding Queen of the known world froze as she suddenly felt Amina passed into her arms.

_“Leksa…”_ Luna groaned.

_“Sha?”_ Lexa whispered. Her eyes transfixed on the very human looking baby in her clutches.

_“You have brought no harm to this child. You only aided in giving her life.”_ Luna stretched out a hand exhaustedly to an uncharacteristically terrified Lexa.

Clarke smirked as Lexa walked towards her beast and fatigued Luna.

_“Hey…We made that.”_ Clarke pointed playfully at her Trifecta pup.

_“Yes, the three of you did. Here is your impossible little girl.”_ Abby winked at Clarke.

There was a brief, pleasant pause.

_“What will you call her?”_ Abby asked.

_“Amina.”_ Luna answered within a heartbeat.

_“I like that. I've never heard that name before.”_ Clarke struggled to see her latest baby hidden within Lexa’s possessive arms.

_“In Latin…Amina means soul.”_ Lexa smiled down at her medical marvel.

_ Days later… a tired Abby tried to educate her struggling husband... _

_“But it's Clarke’s sperm. It’s Luna’s egg! How can the three of them create a baby together?”_

Jake placed a cup of herbal tea in front of his stressed wife. It was 2:30am, and still, Abby could not take her eyes from her research.

_“Most DNA is packaged in chromosomes within the nucleus of the egg. There is something called mitochondrial genes. They have a small amount of their own DNA.”_

_“What exactly do these mitochondrial genes do?”_   Jake looked no wiser.

Genetics was way above Jake’s pay grade…herbal tea and neck rubs though? Now that he could do.

_“They mainly code for enzymes that keep the mitochondria themselves functioning. These genes are unlikely to code for the more obvious traits people inherit from their parents. But because they power cells, mitochondria can indirectly affect other traits by altering the way cells function. Mitochondrial DNA might influence a person’s athletic ability, how long they will live_   _and even their IQ_ _.”_

_“So that’s what Lexa has infected? This mitochondrial DNA in Luna?” “I believe so.”_ Abby’s mind was in a whirl.

The brilliant Doctor sketched out her explanation as simple as possible to her struggling husband.

_“Look…almost all Amina’s DNA should come from Luna and Clarke. That’s because most of our genes are found in the nucleus of the egg; just a small amount are found in the mitochondria that Lexa’s blood has affected. The resulting embryo, (Amina)… she has DNA from Clarke and Luna, but the mitochondrial DNA was all Lexa.”_

_“Is this a good or a bad thing?”_ Jake still seemed perplexed.

_“In the old world, there were cases of three-parent babies. This is not new, Jake. Back in the old world, it was all done to combat Mitochondrial disease. It was all done via IVF treatment. But back then it was seen as too…controversial.”_ Abby rolled her eyes.

_“What the hell is Mitochondrial disease?”_

_“It is a chronic, genetic disorder that occurs when the mitochondria of the cell fail to produce enough energy for cell or organ function. Back then they discovered the probable cause fertility problems was a genetic mutation in the mother’s mitochondria. Conditions like Leigh syndrome, which affects the brain, muscles and nerves of developing infants. Sadly, many infants died. Just like the beta ba…”_ Abby trailed off.

Her eyes scanned the carpet of her living room. Something was steadily dawning on her. Abby was lost in the thoughts running rampant throughout her mind, connections tentatively sliding into place.

_“Abby, what is it?”_ Jake looked on, concerned.

_“Rebecca was right...”_ Abby whispered.

_“Are we allowed to say things say that out loud?”_ Jake was wide-eyed.

_“Say what you want about her. She was a genius, Jake. She knew. She knew the Natblida were the answer; she just needed to get a hold of Lexa.” “I don’t follow.”_ Jake furrowed his brow.

_“The blast! The radiation…Alpha or Beta? What chance does any of us have long-term?  We can't survive for long on a planet that almost died. The Betas can't breed. Our kind is getting sick now, when before we rarely fell ill. Look at Indra, Jake!”_ Abby sighed.

_“Lexa’s blood though... It can build an immunity genetically to so many diseases! Lexa is the pinnacle of evolution, the Natblida…these impossible pups? They might just save us all.”_ Jake felt Abby's excitement, a broad grin breaking over his grizzled features.

_“As long as there is Night blood. As long as we have Lexa and more of these impossible pups. We stand a chance. All of us.”_ Abby smiled broadly.

 


	6. The magnificent Nomi!

 

"and I know I may end up failing too, and I know - you were just like me, when someone’s disappointed in you." 

 

* * *

 

 

_Seventeen years on, Abby Griffin’s clinic was a beacon of education and technology. The facility itself was now twice the size it was when Clarke was a pup. Lexa had ensured every resource went into giving her people access to Skai-Kru’s hospitals and modern-day medicine._

_Abby herself had now reached the glorious age of sixty-seven. Unfortunately for Jake, the word retirement was not even in the brilliant woman’s vocabulary. The United Clans needed doctors, surgeons, nurses, technicians... Abby had built a medical school of sorts; students travelled from all corners of the lands to train at the prestigious university, and these people needed to be taught by someone._

 

_Today…_

Abby Griffin confidently lead her student doctors through their lesson.

_“Dementia refers to a category of diseases that cause loss of memory and deterioration in other mental functions. Dementia occurs due to physical changes in the brain and is a progressive disease, meaning it gets worse over time.”_ Abby explained.

Across the small classroom, Abby noted the sadness in the eyes of one particular student. Amina sat staring into space, her pen loosely held in her hand.

_“Ok. That’s enough for today. We will pick up from this juncture tomorrow guys.”_ Abby dismissed her class of five, hopeful, young doctors to be.

Abby waited for the students to file out. Amina remained transfixed by the white-washed walls.

_“Hey.”_ Abby sat down next to her impossible grandchild.

_“Hey, Nomi.”_ Amina sighed.

Abby couldn’t help but try to bring calm to the wild mane of hair before her. Luna’s inviting Amazonian locks were decorated with splashes of Griffin blonde. The thick hair called to Abby’s fingertips. Abby saw a sulking Clarke in the face of this promising young doctor.

_“If this is too difficult for you. We can assign you to something…less personal.”_

_“I feel like I should be doing something more for her…”_ Amina rubbed her eyes.

_“Dahlia is with her right now. You know she’s here every day, just like you. Indra has all her grandchildren looking out for her. She is never alone, Amina.”_ Abby gathered Amina’s hand in her own.

_“My birth mother says…the mind never really dies. It lives on in the great aether - in a world, we cannot see, but we feel when those we love are no more.”_ Amina looked to Abby.

_“If anybody knows of these things, Amina, it would be Luna.”_ Abby smiled.

_“My blood mother does not cope well with all this though.”_

_“I know. Like you…Lexa wants to fix it. Your blood mother has always tended to think she can fix everything.”_

_“Can it truly not be…? Fixed, I mean?”_ Amina asked, knowing the answer all the same.

_“I’m afraid not. Significant, coordinated and holistic support is needed to ensure that Indra ends her life with dignity, free from pain and in place of her choosing. As I said if this is too difficult…?”_

_“I wish to be here and be of service. I hope to learn so I can help others in the future. That is what Indra wanted. She knows I am here. I sense that part of her is still very much aware of me of us.”_ Amina sighed.

_“I believe you.”_ Abby held Amina’s face in her hands.

_“You’re an amazing woman, Nomi.”_ Amina looked up to Abby more than any other family member.

_“So are you, Amina.”_ Abby wiped tears from her granddaughter's face.

_“How would you like to work on the beta breeding project?”_ Abby suddenly offered.

_“Really? You think I’m ready for something like that?”_ Amina replied giddily.

The young girl’s proud moment did not last long however. A loud crash, and the door to Abby’s classroom was almost taken from its hinges by an over-excited visitor.

Abby grimaced as she expected the window pane within the door to shatter.

_“The Queen is here! I have just passed Indra’s ward. I saw the Queen!”_ Ally breathed heavily from running. Exiting just as dramatically as she entered.

_“Ally, wait! That’s not…Lexa.”_ Abby shouted after the overeager alpha, trailing off at the end though, as she realised Ally was already halfway down the corridor.

…………………………………

Ally’s sneakers squeaked as she raced to a sudden stop outside Indra’s ward, her hand already on the brushed steel door handle. There was a quick, courteous knock; then Ally flew straight into the room.

_“Your Majesty!”_ She blurted out excitedly.

Dahlia turned quickly, startled by the sudden intrusion.

_“Ally!”_ Dahlia was wide-eyed.

Ally’s smile faded fast. It was clearly not Lexa that stood before her. From a distance, surely anybody would be pardoned for this case of mistaken identity. The soft luscious waves of dark hair, the long legs taking purposeful strides. From a distance, it really could have been Lexa. Up close, there were noticeable differences. Like Jago, Dahlia was taller than both her parents, Lexa’s own ruthless mother had risen to six feet. It was not surprising that the two siblings now towered above their peers.

There was very little of Clarke Griffin in Dahlia. She was too stoic, too elegant, far too dark. Ally rarely saw the Skai-beast when it came to reflecting upon Dahlia. The stateliness and dignity, the regal drift - that was all Lexa.

It could easily be seen that the teenager was fresher in the face than her thirty-seven-year-old mother. Lexa had aged well, but she was no longer a seventeen-year-old girl. Dahlia’s nose was not quite as long, and missing Lexa’s light freckles. A prominent scar ran through Dahlia’s eyebrow. Ally liked the way the thick dark hairs were interrupted by that jagged white line. The injury served as evidence of an adventurous childhood with Jago, Amina and a very clumsy Zinnia.

Ally fumbled with her words as Dahlia held a hand to her own chest; her heart almost leaping outwards, such was the surprise from Ally’s sudden entrance.

_“My apologies, I thought...”_

_“It’s ok; it happens all the time.”_ Dahlia held up her hands.

_“No! It is not ok. I know how it feels to be constantly mistaken for one’s parent.”_ Ally shook her head.

Abby had wandered towards the ward Indra was situated in, now a spectator to Ally’s awkward behaviour.

Dahlia saw the flushed cheeks and the sweating skin, panic suddenly crawling up Ally’s spine.

_“Hey, …its ok. I thought you might be Zinnia; she has been looking for me.”_ Dahlia held out a calming hand and spoke in the softest tone she could muster.

Ally’s cheeks burnt with a crimson glow.

_“You have not insulted me, I assure you! My mother is an exceptionally beautiful woman. I doubt there are many omegas within the clans that would take offence at being mistaken for her.”_ Dahlia shrugged.

Ally cringed inside despite Dahlia’s reassuring words, her tendency to become uncomfortable in social settings reared its head again. The alpha shuffled uneasily in front of the doorway. Over the years, Ally had grown into a ruggedly handsome beast just like Echo. Inside though, Ally was still the little girl living alone in the dark forest of Azgeda. Twenty-seven years of age and Ally had never once taken a mate; a virgin still, much to the frustration of Echo.

The peculiar Alpha seemed lost in thought. She crinkled her nose up as if processing a great mathematical conundrum in her mind.

_“Do you not think your mother's nose is too long? Her skin for a time was very spotty. I do remember this!”_ Ally rubbed her chin.

Dahlia smiled broadly; only Ally would so innocently insult her mother’s famed beauty. When everyone else worshipped Lexa as a deity, Ally always managed to humanise Dahlia’s goddess of a mother, dragging Lexa straight back down to earth with a thud. Over the years, it was something Lexa needed desperately. Her guardian angel always keeping her on the path towards light.

_“Your skin is much healthier than hers ever was! You are somewhat thicker in the hip though,_ _and much more top heavy.”_

Dahlia paused, then erupted into volcanic laughter. Indra stirred slightly at the sound, the laughter so bountiful and hearty.

Ally’s face remained in a frown.

_“What is it? What have I said?”_

Dahlia stood with both hands on her hips, a great smile on offer to the Azgeda. Ally rarely disappointed when it came to social gaffs. Dahlia found it to be her most attractive trait. Heda’s firstborn was tired of the fawning members of her mother’s court. The sycophants and their constant compliments and creeping. In comparison, Ally was like a breath of fresh air, and Dahlia was more than happy to take great lungsful of the odd alpha. Dahlia cleared her throat and raised a questioning brow.

_“Top heavy? Really?”_ Dahlia felt her face begin to ache, smiling so much in Ally’s presence.

Ally suddenly tilted her head to one side, not unlike a puzzled dog. There it was! The evidence that Dahlia was indeed sired by Clarke Griffin. Dahlia’s laugh was pleasantly laced with the tone of the Skai-beast. She was perhaps more of her sire in intonation than appearance.

Indra turned her head slightly, angling it towards the sound of laughter. A great smile began to creep across her ageing features.

Noticing the movement in the corner of her eye, Dahlia carefully lifted the warm bed sheet. She lovingly tucked her grandmother back in and made her feel nothing but comfort.

Ally could not tear her gaze from Dahlia. The flecks of seafoam green in the Omega’s eyes only reflected the cruel, clinical hospital lighting, yet somehow, that light made Dahlia appear nothing short of angelic. She was bathed in her mother’s otherworldly beauty; it hung light and ethereal about her form. There was something alien and intergalactic about Dahlia, forever seeping through the mundane and harshness on the surface of this world.

Gentle fingertips caressed Indra’s forehead then played with fluffy grey hair. The young Queen-to-be smiled down happily at her grandmother as if they were in quiet conversation.

_“She too finds you most amusing, Ally of the Azgeda.”_ Dahlia winked.

_“You do not know that! How can you tell? She is heavily sedated. Her mind is dying.”_ Ally was blunt.

Dahlia refused to look away from Indra, as if to do so would be inappropriate, mid-conversation.

_“She has advanced stage dementia. Her mind is lost.”_ Ally explained.

_“No... her great mind is evolving. She moves on to brighter days. She transcends to a place only a warrior as valiant as she may go.”_ Dahlia beamed down at Indra from above. A stream of dark hair cascading downwards and almost ticking Indra’s cheek.

_“I see no evidence of that. You should not be so fanciful.”_   Becca’s brilliant, yet overly practical mind, was very much present within the grownup Ally.

Dahlia turned, her eyes narrowing but still shining with nothing but kindness towards her ever-practical friend.

_“Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are? That some people see things that others cannot? It is the fault of your science that it wishes to explain everything. If it cannot muster an explanation, then it says there is nothing to explain.”_   Dahlia recited.

Ally stepped forward. Her heart rate picking up as Dahlia disagreed with her. Ally still struggled with debate and differing opinions to her own. Too many formative years talking to nothing but the trees and woodland creatures affecting her still to this day.

_“Everything can be explained with indisputable evidence! Science is accuracy. It is fact. It_ is _.”_

Dahlia raised her left hand, the pen from Ally’s top pocket flew quickly through the air and found itself in the teenager's light grasp.

Silence echoed around Ally as her blue eyes widened at the theatrics.

Abby Griffin found herself pushing closer to the glass. That air - that presence she felt so strongly surrounding a young Lexa, it was never too far away from her eldest grandchild either. Not even Lexa at this age was _this_ powerful though. Abby had witnessed Dahlia’s abilities morph and grow rapidly in recent months.

Dahlia inspected the pen in her hand, a smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.

_“How does your science explain that I can do such things?”_ Dahlia whispered.

Shock having worn off, Ally huffed out air through her nostrils. She folded her arms across her chest as she stared back at the powerful Dahlia.

_“It would say you are your mother’s daughter, most certainly.”_ Ally grumbled.

Again, Dahlia threw back her head and cackled. Ally always managed to make the teenager laugh.

_“That’s not a very scientific response.”_ Dahlia bit her lip, knowing full well she had proven her point.

Abby chuckled from beyond the glass as Ally scowled at a gloating Dahlia. The Azgeda was so incredibly intelligent it made her socially awkward, like her mother. She was also quick to fire and stubborn, making her cocky like Echo. Her unrufflable countenance was easily made unsteady by Dahlia though. It made Abby grin.

_“I know that your mother finds it tough to see Indra this way. It hurts her to see her slowly falling apart.”_ Ally sounded glum.

_“Things sometimes fall apart so that better things may fall together.”_ Dahlia leant down, kissing her grandmother’s forehead.

Ally remained speechless. Dahlia was incredibly alluring, with her words as well as her looks it seemed.

_“I have to go. If Zinnia is left unattended for too long, she may very well burn down my mother’s tower.”_ Dahlia rolled her eyes.

The young woman made her way to the door of the room. Abby waved at her granddaughter through the glass, earning a smile from the lovely girl.

_“Will I see you tomorrow?”_ Ally suddenly called after Dahlia.

Dahlia paused, holding the door half open.

_“Of course, I will be in the tower's library, as usual.”_

_“I have finished the book that you recommended,”_ Ally added.

_“Then you must share your review with me tomorrow, scientist.”_ Dahlia teased.

Ally’s jaw clenched tightly shut, her lips puckering up into a childlike pout. She knew Dahlia was teasing her. Still, she couldn’t help but take the bait.

_“I am not a scientist! I am a forensic technical specialist for the Guarda…but on my weekends; I do like to blow things up with Raven Reyes, for fun of course.”_ Ally’s face remained serious.

Dahlia bit her bottom lip to stifle another bout of laughter. The Azgeda was so very strange.

_“Goodbye…Ally of the Azgeda.”_

Dahlia was gracious as she left. The door closing firmly behind her on a now paralysed Ally.

_“Goodbye…Princess.”_ Ally offered a broken whisper to an empty room.

Abby watched on through the glass as Ally’s shoulders slumped in Dahlia’s absence. She desperately wanted to put her arm around the odd alpha. It was hard for Abby to accept at times, that this kind-hearted soul was the daughter of the vile Rebecca Kane.

Remembering her fellow researcher, Abby’s thoughts turned inward. As vile as the woman was, and as terrible as her experimentation had been, Abby would continue her ex-colleague’s research into the many effects of night blood. It was necessary given the threat, granted Abby’s methods were nowhere near as extreme as the unhinged woman’s.

Abby’s eyed grew unfocused as her thoughts continued to drift. To pursue her research and teach the next generation of medical professionals, Abby, of course, had to step down as chancellor of Skai – kru. There were certainly not enough hours in the day to manage her clan and mind the clinic that had grown so much over time. And how things had changed! It was almost unbelievable to think that for the last 15 years, the Skai people had been lead successfully by the reformed character that was Marcus Kane. That left only one person with the strength and moral nature to lead the Guarda. Clarke. Abby smiled warmly and with a sense of pride thinking about her only child. Chief Constable of the Guarda and guardian to the United Clans.


	7. Chief Officer Clarke Griffin

"Call my name through the cream, and I’ll hear you scream again"

 

* * *

 

 

_“You better get down here Clarke!”_

CHINK!

The sound of a glass vial splintering under a heavy boot echoed out within the darkened space, followed by some sucking splashes.

“ _Where are you?”_ Clarke’s low voice crackled out amongst the footfalls of Sergeant Blake’s heavy Guarda boots.

Blake’s shift should have finished well over an hour ago, but it was not likely he would be getting home anytime soon.

 _“Good question!”_ The Beta responded, holding the radio up to his mouth.

It was the smell had caught Bellamy’s attention first, whilst out on patrol. An odour like a stagnant body of water with an undercurrent of raw sewage, but there weren’t any functional public conveniences down where he was. It certainly was not a place you wanted to be caught without backup, that's was for sure! Graffiti marred the once beautiful arched brickwork of this relic from the old world.

Bellamy squints his eyes, something having caught his attention as he continued to trudge through the squelching filth. His Reyes custom flashlight cut through the darkness all around, revealing his exact location.

 _“I’m at Cleveland park subway station.”_ His eyes remained transfixed on the dusty old sign.

Bellamy’s mind wondered as he ran a fingertip along the plastic subway sign. A fascinating piece of a lifestyle long since gone. How many people had stood on this platform in the old world? In the days when all the busy commenters had to worry about was dashing down the steps for their departing train, and not spilling coffee down their shirt in the process.

Greasy fingerprints still laid upon the sign, preserved and unaltered by the passing of time. Bellamy wondered if the commuters even had time to call their loved ones before the missiles hit…did they try to survive down here? Huddled like cowering cattle as the news steadily came through that Armageddon was upon them all? Sergeant Bellamy Blake was tough. He did what had to be done and served his clan tirelessly. But…That did not mean he was without heart. His soft fleshy fingertip travelled across gouged-out letters within the plastic. Bellamy felt his chest tighten and moisture flood his eyes. He had discovered a final prayer, a final hope, a last wish never granted.

 _(God save_ _us all.)_

A deep voice from behind startled the Sergeant.

_“You getting all sentimental again, boy?”_

Bellamy turned quickly, wiping the corner of his eye just as rapidly as he has turned to face his back-up.

_“They wouldn’t have lasted long down here. It’s too close to the surface.”_

Bellamy straightened his back in the presence of his typically insensitive colleague.

 _“They would have been better off above ground when the missiles struck. That way they would have been toast on impact, rather than taking hours to die down here in the dark with the rats.” “Jesus…you’re an insensitive asshole.”_ Bellamy shook his head.

 _“Yea well…your sister still married me.”_ The old wolf grinned.

_“Do you have to keep reminding me, Azgeda?”_

_“The dead are gone, Belly boy, the living are hungry.”_

Echo stood not three feet from Bellamy Blake…still as handsome as ever, and just as unapologetically to the point.

 _“Bellamy…what’s your status?”_ Clarke’s voice sounded out on the subway platform. _“What have you found?”_ Clarke pressed.

 _“Another night blood den, Sir.”_ Bellamy responded.

 _“How the hell is it getting through? This is the third find this month!”_ Clarke sighed.

 _“God damn junkies.”_ Echo tread on another used vial.

 _“Do you have support?”_ Clarke asked.

 _“No…but I have Echo down here with me.”_ Bellamy smirked into the radio.

Clarke allowed herself to smile at the remark.

 _“You mean you have your superior officer in attendance at the scene?”_ Clarke raised a brow.

 _“Sure…that too.”_ Bellamy frowned, handing off the radio to Echo.

 _“Griffin…remind me again how the hell you convinced me to sign up to the fucking Guarda?”_ Echo glanced at her unpleasant surroundings, speaking into the receiver.

Bellamy moved to check the edge of the platform, sweeping the light of his flashlight back and forth with a practised ease. Broken shards of glass glinted and sparkled in the bright beam of the light; they were everywhere.

 _“You look good in the uniform.”_ Clarke rolled her eyes.

 _“Griffin…I never knew you cared.”_ Echo winked at Bellamy.

 _“I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality that I can say that.”_ Clarke laughed.

_“There is not enough lube in the world for me to take you, Boss.”_

_“Please stop.”_ Bellamy interrupted the bantering alphas.

Echo blew a kiss at her blushing brother-in-law.

 _“Get Ally and Raven down here. We need some TECH assistance asap.”_ Bellamy advised as he scowled at Echo.

 _“This old station is not far from Trinity.”_ Bellamy added

Clarke stood from her chair to study a map on her office wall. The snug fitting Guarda uniform looked just as appealing on the Prime as it did on the ice-wolf. The tight black shirt and pants left very little to the imagination on both alphas.

 

 _“Once TECH gets there I want you both to check the 14th Clan’s containment wall.”_ Clarke’s eyes scanned the thick red line on her map.

 _“You really think there is a breach?”_ Echo asked.

 _“Either that or someone is manufacturing a high.”_ Clarke ran a hand through her hair.

 _“How would anyone get through that wall?”_ Bellamy asked, shrugging at an equally doubtful Echo.

 _“No ideas yet… just check the wall.”_ Clarke ordered.

 _“Yes, Sir,”_ Bellamy responded.

 _“You sure your lovely woman isn't secretly a blood dealer, Griffin?_ ” _“That's not even funny.”_ Clarke snarled into the radio.

 _“Relax…I’m kidding.”_ Echo scoffed.

 _“That cheap shit is not your Queen’s blood, Echo!”_ Clarke growled into the radio.

 _“But she is still supplying Reyes…right?” “It's not Lexa’s blood!”_ Clarke snapped.

 _“Listen, I’m just saying. Maybe Raven needs to come to Lexa for her treatment or whatever the hell she calls it. Can't risk Lexa's blood getting mixed with whatever this shit is…”_ Echo whispered into the radio, looking around her surroundings warily.

Clarke took a deep breath. She hated to admit it, but Echo was right. The situation was now escalating. Three months into the investigation and still no leads on where these kids were getting a hold of night blood.

_“I will talk to Lexa when she gets back from Azgeda.”_

_“Alright…we will contact you once we have checked out the wall.”_ Echo signed off, strapping her radio com to the tactical belt at her waist.

 _“Come on, Belly-boy! Let's go play junkie hunt.”_ Echo offered Bellamy a high-five.

 _“Please stop calling me that, asshole!”_ Bellamy grumbled.

Suddenly the radio hooked to Echo’s belt crackled into life, halting Echo’s laughter.

 _“Sire…I will not be at home when you return tomorrow.”_ Ally announced.

 _“Hey there! You got a hot date, kid?”_ Echo had unstrapped the radio, replying to her pup before covering the mouthpiece mouthing “ _if only_ ” at a smirking Bellamy Blake.

 _“No…I have my book club_.” Ally frowned at the radio held in her hands.

Echo let out a frustrated sigh.

_“You know…you will never meet a girl at a fucking book club!”_

_“I will not engage in this conversation again!”_ Ally snapped.

_“Look…kid. You need to get yourself laid. You’re ancient in Azgeda breeding terms. You do realize that?”_

_“…….”_

CLICK

 _“Hello? Ally?... Damn it!”_ Echo shook a fist at the heavens above.

 _“Nicely done.”_ Bellamy stood arms folded.

 _“Kids! Be grateful you don’t have them, Bel.”_ Echo scoffed.

Bellamy looked immediately to the ground.

 _“Aw shit. I didn’t mean anything by that.”_ Echo felt her cheeks flush.

 _“I’m over it. Beta aren’t meant to breed.”_ Bellamy shrugged _“Hey...Abby is on the case.”_ Echo half smiled.

 _“She’s been on the case for the last seventeen years.”_ Bellamy sighed.


	8. Gods monsters and Villains.

_“Bad dreams in the night, they told me I was going to lose the fight, leave behind my wuthering, wuthering heights.” ..._

 

* * *

 

 

Ally was thankful for the sun having come down. She was glad of the night sky and the kind candlelight of the library. It made the dark circles under her eyes much more difficult to notice. _“I did not sleep well last night. My sire and I came to blows. She can be most vexing.”_

Ally sank down slowly into a large, plush chair. The leather squeaked as she twisted in her seat, trying to get comfortable on the overstuffed cushion. Icy-blue eyes flit about the space as her muscles gradually loosened, the tension and anxiety of the day slowly sloughing off her weary bones. Lexa’s library was nothing short of incredible. Aside from her makeshift den in the woods, this was the only place Ally felt truly safe.

Dahlia drifted towards her fatigued friend, lowering herself down onto the seat opposite Ally.

_“I’m sorry to hear that you have not slept well... How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams?”_

Ally glanced up. Every word that left Dahlia’s lips never ceased to captivate the ice wolf. Dahlia was always so well spoken and articulate. Jago was just like his eldest sister in that way as well.

Ally briefly mused upon the middle sibling of the three, wondering what had happened to Zinnia.

The alpha was bordering on illiterate!

 _“I rarely sleep. I find slumber evades me often.”_ Dahlia sighed.

 _“What prevents you from sleeping?”_ Ally asked, inquisitively.

Dahlia perched on the end of her seat. The young girl never truly in a state of relaxation. Her lips quirked up at the corners as she gazed upon her friend. It was utterly ironic that her mother’s guardian angel seemed to be the only person Dahlia could reveal her thoughts to.

 _“As night falls, I find myself floating on a black sea of wonders. I hunt; I stalk; I think of peculiar things, which I dare not acknowledge in the morning sun. There are voices that speak to me in my sleep. Images that haunt me for days after the dream has come to an end.” “What do you dream of?”_ Ally asked.

 _“I dream of a woman. The same woman. Her face hidden and her skin frosty and bitter. Yet, she does not feel like a stranger to me. She leaves me submerged in nothing but warmth.”_ Dahlia whispered.

Ally sat up straighter, leaning forward in her chair and taking Dahlia by the hand.

Dahlia closed her eyes, her lashes fluttering together softly.

_“I see sharp claws; they open up the skin of her breast. When the blood begins to spurt out, she takes my hand in her own, holding it very tight. Her other hand is at the back of my neck and pressing my mouth to the wound so that I must either suffocate or swallow.”_

Ally glanced down at her hand clasped with Dahlia’s. Her friend was recounting the night terrors with such intensity in her melodic intonations. This dream must have been harassing Dahlia for a very long time…

 _“Do you enjoy these dreams?”_ Ally feared the response she may receive.

Dahlia sat motionless, forcing Ally to wait longer than was comfortable for a reply.

_“There is a calculated depravity that is both thrilling and abhorrent, all in the same moment. This woman that haunts my dreams She arches her neck, she licks her lips like an animal, till I can see the moonlight reflecting in the moisture upon her skin. Then white, sharp teeth gorge like an unfed beast on thick black blood. Slowly her head tilts back. I close my eyes and feed - until she is no more.”_

_“So, you believe you kill her? This mystery woman?”_ Ally wondered.

 _“That is the oddity that still confounds me. I do not know if I kill her, or if she kills me? If I am healing her? If I am turning into her...?” “Who is she?”_ Ally frowned.

Dahlia delayed, her gaze focusing just beyond Ally, staring intently at the bookcase behind the plush leather chair her friend was sitting on. Dahlia’s eyes darted about the many dust jackets and splintered spines, never settling long enough to read any of the titles.

_“For a very long time...I thought her to be my mother. How curious is that? To dream of such a thing?”_

_“That is most peculiar.”_   Ally agreed.

 “Sigmund Freud would no doubt have had a field day.” Ally added.

“Ha!” Dahlia let out a brief laugh.

“Indeed, he would have.” Dahlia smiled back her well-read friend.

 _“Still, it must be most uncomfortable to wake from such a dream.”_ Ally assumed. “ _Perhaps you dream of Natblida Queen’s long since passed? There is a connection to them possibly?_ ” Ally pondered.

“Perhaps?” Dahlia quietly whispered.

 _“It is truly terrifying, what tricks our dreams play on us, and how conveniently we can imagine. We sin so carelessly in our dreams. We only dissect our conscience in the waking world. Have you ever met a person that dreamt of ethics or principles, of morality?”_ Dahlia pondered.

Ally paused for a moment, her brain kicking into overdrive. Dahlia seemed to have disappeared into another realm entirely as her words slipped easily past her full lips, eyes unfocused. Ally felt as if there were another presence in the room. The feeling was so strong that it gave her cause to search out another entity. Ally scanned the dark corners of the library briskly with her eyes. No, nothing there, she and Dahlia were alone. Despite that, Ally still felt another soul lingering in the dim space.

 _“This darkness inside us all. I suppose it is some taste of the original apple that remains in all our mouths.”_ Dahlia whispered into the candlelight.

Ally quickly grabbed for her satchel at the foot of her seat, hoping a change in subject might bring her friend back to a more tangible plane.

_“This book is very dark…I found it most interesting. I thought it to be solely of the macabre at first; now though, I cannot decide if it is a horror story…or a great romance.”_

Ally retrieved a thick book from her bag, its leather was cracked and peeling away from the board beneath. Although old, the book still had the colour of blood seeped into the fading leather; a demonic beast embossed upon the cover. Dahlia smiled to herself as Ally fought with the satchel. Her friend’s tongue was stuck out as if reaching for the tip of her nose; a childlike excitement etched across her face.

 _“Did you like it?”_ Dahlia’s tone was soft. Her not wanting to interrupt Ally’s joy.

 _“I did, very much! I felt strangely sorry for the beast at the end. As he died, I found myself wanting to cry. But, Azgeda do not cry. I did allow myself to feel sombre though.”_ Ally frowned down at the book.

In a heartbeat, Ally threw her giddiness at a serene Dahlia.

_“The beasts demise! Do you know the passage that I spe-”_

_“But, on the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knife. I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat. Whilst at the same moment Mr. Morris's bowie knife plunged into the heart. It was like a miracle, but before our very eyes, and almost in the drawing of a breath, the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight. I shall be glad as long as I live that even in that moment of final dissolution, there was in the face a look of peace, such as I never could have imagined might have rested there._ _"_

Ally sat stock still with her mouth hanging open. Dahlia had cut her off and recited the specific passage she meant.

_“That book is about eternity. To love another for so long, that it drives you to absolute madness._

_Love can make monsters of us all, if left unrequited.” “Yes!”_ Ally agreed with Dahlia’s review.

_“I have always held great sympathy for the vengeful Gods, monsters and villains within these old books.”_

 Dahlia stared beyond Ally as if for a moment, she was not even there. Her eyes again wandering the many antique books that found sanctuary within Polis.

Ally remained transfixed. This brooding girl was nothing short of marvellous. She was deep, dark, and frighteningly intelligent. Ally felt as though she could discuss every page from every book in this library, yet still, she would never wish for the conversation with Dahlia to end. She found she could talk with Dahlia for days, about anything. _This girl?_ – that seemed so inappropriate a title!

Dahlia appeared to be a hundred years old, a dozen lifetimes bottled up into one seventeen-year-old!

 _“Would you say you hate your mother, Dahlia? I often wonder if I should hate mine?”_ Ally pondered.

Dahlia considered Ally with wide eyes. Surprised by the directness of the question.

_“Do I hate her? no. It's quite the opposite. I love my mother. She is magnificent. In less than twenty years, she has brought peace to us all. She has brought infrastructure, economy, commerce to the clans. If more women like my mother ran the old world, we would not be living in the aftermath of an apocalypse.”_

_“But those are things to love of a politician - a leader - not a mother.”_ Ally suggested.

Dahlia paused. For the first time, maybe ever, Ally did not see Dahlia’s sharp mind and articulate wit spring to the surface to respond to her query. Instead, Dahlia seemed small, distant, and lost, unable to respond to the question posed.

 _“I'm sorry…perhaps I should not have asked such a personal question.”_ Ally blushed.

_“It's fine; I am wondering how to best explain my thoughts.”_

Ally waited, as Dahlia’s eyes seemed to read unseen words within the air. The young girl determined to choose the right way to explain her relationship with her mother.

_“People will often say to me - that to be half as beautiful as my mother, to be half as commanding as she, that is a truly marvellous thing. I do not wish to be half as successful as her; I want to exceed her accomplishments! I wish to outdo her triumph.”_

_“You are inspired by her?”_ Ally asked.

_“Very much so, but there are some things I believe I would do better. There is one thing I feel my mother has mishandled terribly.”_

Ally was unsure how to reply. Dahlia’s face failed to hide her deep-seeded frustrations with Lexa.

 _“What would you change, Dahlia?”_ Ally asked.

  _“Her stance on the 14th Clan. It is her biggest failing. Her decision to contain them, rather than integrate them is an emotive one.”_

Ally stood to her feet, steadily. She ran curious eyes over Dahlia.

_“Your mother attempted to take control of the Natblida and bring them into the clans. After what my mother has done to the black blood, it is impossible to filter the darkness from it. Your mother and the Skai-beast did attempt to save those within the dead zone. They were lucky to escape with their lives.”_

_“There are no dead within the dead zone!”_ Dahlia suddenly stood to her feet.

 _“_ My _people are_ alive _; I believe I can bring order to them, where my mother could not.”_

_“Your people? You consider those within the dead zone your people?”_

_“Yes. My mother is a child of the Natblida, of the lost clan. She seems to have forgotten that though.”_ Dahlia frowned.

_“So… you feel as though you do not belong? I have always wondered. Is this why your body bears no skin art?”_

Dahlia was indeed the only child of the Skai-beast to have no tattoos.

 _“I too feel as though I do not belong. I live in Skai territory, but my heart is always in Azgeda.”_ Ally sighed.

 _“There will be good people within the lost clan. I feel my mother has turned her back on them. She should have tried harder.”_ There was steel under Dahlia’s softly spoken words.

 _“Sometimes, good people can still do dreadful things. I often wonder if my mother was always sick? Did something happen to push her into such dark deeds? She had such strange views...”_ Ally recalled.

 _“Did she?”_ Dahlia queried.

_“She did. My mother believed that Gods vanity inflicted humans on the earth.”_

Ally rarely spoke of Becca. Not even with Echo. The Azgeda felt her cheeks flush and her heart race.

 _“She would say - God created man with the ability to_ choose _whether to love him or not. Whereas the angels had no choice, they were made to love God without question. This need to feel loved is the catalyst for our failings today, our weaknesses.” “Love is not weakness. I could never accept that.”_ Dahlia said, speedily.

 _“Nor could I.”_ Ally said proudly.

The wooden shelves creaked all around. Such was the silence, Ally heard the gentle patter of a rodent’s paws, as it scrambled within the floor space beneath them.

Dahlia suddenly felt her manners fail her. For too long now, she had stared directly at Ally.

 _“My apologies.”_ Dahlia cleared her throat.

 _“Do not apologise. It is not unpleasant being under your scrutiny.”_ Ally grinned, cheekily.

Dahlia smiled back. A simple, gracious nod the only sign that she was grateful for Ally’s forgiveness.

“ _I dream of my mother also, Dahlia. In my dreams …she does nothing but leave me behind_.”

Dahlia let out a ragged breath. Ally watched on as the girl stepped closer. The teenager leant forward, placing two hands on her older friend’s shoulders, then soft lips placed the most caring of kisses upon Ally’s cheek.

 _“You’re excellent company, Ally of the Azgeda. Who would have thought we have so much in common? It would seem we both have our infamous mothers to thank for that.”_ Dahlia winked.

_“Indeed... Dahlia, I wonder if you might...”_

Ally never got the chance to finish. A guard entered briskly through the door.

Dahlia closed her eyes tightly. Her mother's controlling guards and their non-existent manners infuriated the teen greatly.

 _“Forgive the intrusion…but we are unable to locate your siblings.”_ Dahlia let out a frustrated sigh.

 _“That is not a helpful statement; I have fifteen siblings! Which ones are missing?”  “Apologies. It is Zinnia and Jago I speak of.”_ The guard responded.

 _“You cannot locate Jago?”_ Dahlia was more shocked by her sensible brother being missing than her unreliable sister.

 _“Leave us.”_ Dahlia gestured to the exit.

Ally watched as the 6ft 4in guard fled at Dahlia’s command.

 _“I think I know where Zinnia will most likely be, Dahlia.”_ Ally mumbled

_“Where?”_

_“Luna’s parlour.”_ Ally blushed.

 _“Again. Mother has forbidden her to go there.”_ Dahlia’s voice was deadpan.

 _“It is a place to start.”_ Ally shrugged.

_“Then it looks like we have a date, my friend. We must find you something smarter to wear.”_

Ally looked down at her scruffy jeans and black t-shirt. The dark musings and conversation previous suddenly forgotten in lieu of heated cheeks and the mention of a ‘date’.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit: Bram Stoker - Dracula. (1897)


	9. Luna's Parlour

_"Heaven sent Hell away, but no one sings like her anymore- behind the face, lies the snake, in the sun is my disgrace." ...D_

 

* * *

 

_Under cover of_ _nightfall…_

Zinnia snuck into Luna’s parlour unannounced, her face buried within a large black hood. Surely, she had to be recognisable to some outside of court? Her long blonde waves and winning blue eyes screamed nothing but Clarke Griffin. She would be easily spotted by someone if she were not careful.

The establishment was exceptionally busy on this night. Groups of specially invited guests poured in through the exquisitatly wrought entry doors; it was exclusive membership only at Luna’s parlour. The patrons - Beta, Alpha, Omega alike - crammed into Lunas’s every night, however none more than during the special events the Flou-Kru madame catered out specifically. This was one of those nights, a party that Luna had sent word out about. Zinnia had never seen so many people in one place before.

More like a rat than a wolf, the pup scurried through the crowd. The parlour’s decor looked something like the interior of a dollhouse. The walls painted in a pinkish blush with a strange glittery sheen to it. Either the glitter was part of the effect, or no one had cleaned the place since the last party ended.

The wayward teen made it to the parlour’s bar without incident. The warm flesh of strangers pressing into her back as they claimed their drink of choice from the overworked bartenders. Zinnia dared not make eye contact with anyone. She clung nervously to the teak surface of the bar countertop, retracting her hand quickly, as she felt it slide into a pool of stale booze.

Each of Zinnia’s senses were entirely overloaded, forcing the pup’s mind into a gradually decending haze. Zinnia’s nostrils flared with intrigue. The animal within picked up on the heady smell of cut roses mixing with strong scents of tabaco and moonshine _._

There were too many people, too many voices. Already, the rebellious pup was regretting her choice to sneak out this evening. Lexa would not approve of her first born Alpha pup skulking around Luna’s parlour, even if it was a high-class establishment.

Zinnia deliberated at the bustling bar. What would she even order? How would she fare under the scrutiny of a stressed barmaid? She had never drunk ale before, having only sampled wine at the family dinner table, and it was something she was rather averse to the taste of!

The repetitive clinking of drinking pots hitting the bar top began to sound like tribalistic music to the teen's ears. The beat, coupled with rising chatter of voices, only served to disable the pup’s nerves further. The teen wolf began to sweat under the weight of her disguise. The growing number of hot bodies raising the temperature of the room rapidly. She had to stay hidden from prying eyes though.

Unbeknownst to Zinnia...a much older and wiser wolf had already picked up on the familiar Griffin scent. Adept eyes, briskly searched the crowded area, before landing on the young fool in the hood.

Echo slid off her stool silently. Leaving her present company without so much as a word. Echo’s trademark swaggering hips slipped through the patrons of Luna’s parlour, her eyes focussed on the young gatecrasher at the bar. Echo never let her mark leave her sight, despite the heaving swarm of bodies.

Tinnitus rocked the pup’s ear drums, as if she had spent most of the night stood front row at rock concert. Her pupils were dilated, and currently reflecting the most judgemental of faces…a half-naked server was asking for Zinnia’s drink of choice - for the third time!

The teen's throat had dried out. She witnessed the pixie looking man’s eyes rake over her underage form as she hesitated. Any moment now, he would call security. Any moment now…he would throw her out on her ass.

A deep soothing voice from behind saved the pup's skin, at the last moment.

_“Two of your finest ales, boy!”_ Echo offered dagger eyes to the uppity barman.

He reluctantly nodded, rushing around the busy bar with his equally scantily clad kru.

Echo kept her eyes forward as she sat next to a relieved Zinnia.

_“What the fuck are you doing in here, kid?”_ Echo sighed.

Zinnia sank further into her hood. She did not answer the much older Alpha’s question. Echo ran her eyes over the assassin-like, black cloak the pup was wearing.

_“Yeah…let’s not sit looking like a serial killer in a brothel, dickhead!”_ Echo yanked down Zinnia’s hood.

The seventeen-year-old panicked, immediately trying to pull the hood back up.

_“Relax!”_ Echo whispered in the pup’s ear.

Zinnia froze as the pretty barman dropped the ales in front of the two Alphas. He pouted his lips disapprovingly at Echo, offering the wolf a sassy once over with his eyes, before quickly making himself scarce.

Echo blew a mirth filled kiss at the retreating queen of the baristas.

_“Fucking little bitch,”_ Echo mumbled.

Zinnia still could not bring herself to look beyond the immediate bar area. She just counted down the seconds until one of her mother’s elite guard placed a gorilla like paw on her shoulder. All at Dahlia’s order of course! They would not fear to drag Zinnia back home to her sister.

_“You know, the more you try to hide the more attention you will attract.”_ Echo schooled the young Alpha.

Zinnia threw a surprised look at a smirking Echo.

_“So… you’re not gonna take me back home?”_ Zinnia nervously awaited a response.

Echo let out a sigh, then slid the ale across to Zinnia.

_“I should. Your mother still scares the shit outta me after all.”_ Echo picked up her ale, drinking it down in large gulps.

Zinnia watched Echo intently. The masculine way her hand gripped the drinking cup. The way her knees parted and her back stood strong as steel. The impolite way the ale glugged from the pot with no sense of table manners or delicacy. The brutish slurp as the drink came to its final dregs.

Zinnia attempted to mirror Echo’s macho stance. She looked at her own hand as it grasped the drinking cup, determined to match it to Echo’s.

Echo bashed her empty pot down upon the bar, victoriously. The wolf’s pale paw wiped the area of her mouth roughly, neglecting the customary belch.

Zinnia remained transfixed by her sire’s second. Echo scowled down at the teen's untouched ale.

_“You gonna drink that bitch down hard? Or spoon her in bed?”_ Echo’s tone was mocking.

Zinnia gripped the pot tighter, noting the mockery and challenge in the older Alpha’s tone. She swiftly brought the ale to her mouth, foolishly copying Echo’s experienced downing of the liquid. Almost instantly, the pup brought the ale back up. Coughing and spluttering amber fluid across the bar surface.

Tossing her head back, full bodied laughter erupted from Echo’s lips. The wolf’s keen ears didn’t miss the effeminate “tut” come from the other side of the bar though. Echo was kind enough to pat the pup’s back as she struggled to get her airway clear. The bartender stood arms folded as he watched on.

_“Here, let's try that again.”_ Echo continued to laugh as she demanded the teenager’s ale be topped up.

On the next attempt, the pup was much more careful, sipping the ale rather than throwing it down her gullet like an Azgeda warlord.

_“You know you shouldn’t be in here, right?”_ Echo placed an arm around Zinnia’s shoulder.

Zinnia nodded.

_“I take it you have come to see the fabulous décor?”_ Echo ruffled the pup’s blonde mane.

The ice wolf ran her eyes around the parlour. Bare breasts and sculpted torsos were all around! Pretty girls and prettier boys of all shapes and sizes, amused their guests. The staff would be teasing and cloying their patrons until daybreak.

_“I came here for the entertainment.”_ Zinnia pointed to the stage.

Luna’s parlour was especially well known for its crooning singers and sultry bands.

_“I heard you get up there and sing like a little birdy sometimes, Echo.”_ Zinnia now gulped her ale.

Echo laughed. Impressed by the pup’s quickly building confidence and bad attitude. The ice wolf’s smile didn’t last long though, her date's eyes were now burning into from her across the room.

Octavia sat shaking her head at Echo. Her form wrapped up in soft silk. Time had been kind to Octavia, her face relatively unchanged and unmarked by the passage of years. An amused Raven sat by Octavia’s side - the Beta-girl just as outspoken and as underdressed as ever.

_“She needs to get her out of here.”_ Octavia's sensible side kicked in.

_“Echo seems to have it all under control. She seems to be enjoying herself actually.”_ Raven shrugged.

Octavia’s face flushed in sudden concern, her gaze still locked on Lexa’s handsome Alpha pup.

_“What is it?”_ Raven asked.

_“It’s… nothing.”_ Octavia fumbled with her words.

_“Oh please! You have that look.”_ Raven wiggled a finger in her friend’s face.

Octavia slapped the intrusive hand away.

_“No, I don’t!”_ Octavia spat.

_“Come on…spill. What’s up?”_ Raven repeated her request.

Octavia paused before responding.

_“I sometimes think Echo wishes she had a son…”_ The Blake girl watched as Echo laughed with Zinnia.

Octavia had carried five pups for Echo, all had been Omega. Echo was exactly the old-fashioned “Daddy” Octavia imagined she would be; the pups favourite, always up for fun, always providing for her little girls. Random memories suddenly flooded Octavia’s mind - the fearsome ice wolf sitting with a grumpy scowl, as one daughter made her tea and the others desperately tried to apply their sire’s make-up.

Raven’s giggling snapped Octavia out from memory lane.

_“Echo is_ that _uncle, isn’t she?”_ Raven tilted her head as she stared at the animated wolf across the room.

_“What do you mean?”_ Octavia squint her eyes at Raven, still not fully back to the present.

_“You know! That uncle? The one that gives you your first smoke and lets you drink ale? Let’s you drive when you can barely reach the pedals!”_

Octavia rolled her eyes.

_“You mean she is a bad influence?”_

_“You think? I don’t know…Zinnia is at least being watched here. Lexa needs to chill out more.”_ Raven looked over her shoulder instinctively, in fear the commanding Queen somehow overheard heard her dissent.

_“Maybe Echo should talk to Clarke about Zinnia being allowed in here, rather than Lexa? This is the third time this month Zinnia has tried to sneak in.”_ Octavia grinned.

_“The kid likes titties.”_ Raven shrugged.

_“Don’t we all?”_ Octavia offered a toast to Raven with her glass.

 

_Back at the bar…_

Echo eyed an attractive escort walking towards herself, and the out of depth Zinnia.

_“Oh shit!”_ Echo finished her ale, quickly.

_“Are you not Heda’s child?”_ The woman sat herself down next to the pup.

Zinnia’s eyes went wider than normal. The pup was currently faced with the most perfect of sights; two large, bare breasts with nothing more than the night air to keep them warm…two perfect, dark nipples strategically aimed at the pup’s mouth.  Zinnia swallowed harshly before she attempting to answer.

_“No!”_ She scoffed.

Zinnia noted how pretty the woman looked as she smiled. Her dark hair was gathered up in a lose hair tie, her skin a perfect ebony.

_“Well…you look remarkably like our Prime.”_ The woman folded her arms suspiciously.

_“You’re on your own, kid.”_ Echo jumped off her stool, heading back to her wife and best friend.

Zinnia spun around.

_“No…wait!”_ Zinnia whispered after a retreating Echo. The wolf was already waving a goodbye in the air.

The parlour girl looked between a flustered Zinnia and the retreating Wolf. A smile crept across her lips as Zinnia’s breath laboured.

_“How old are you?”_   The woman bit her bottom lip and arched a mistrusting brow.

_“I’m nineteen.”_ Zinnia lied.

The parlour girl was no fool. Luna’s girls and boys were far from inexperienced after all. Luna only picked the savviest of escorts from her Kru to work the parlour. Even in a time of peace and prosperity, you had to have your wits about you.

The beautiful woman did as all parlour girls would, she automatically took a couple years off the age the youngster was telling her.

_“My name is India.”_ The woman held out a hand.

………………………

 

Back across the bar…Octavia nearly fainted at the sight before her.

_“Oh, my God! She’s sat with a hooker!”_ Octavia hid her face in her hands.

_“Hey…they’re not hookers, they’re entertainers, escorts!”_ Echo defended Luna’s business interest.

_“Oh please! If I hand over tokens, she sucks me off!”_ Octavia pointed at her own crotch.

_“But they are very_ entertaining _as they do that!”_ Raven butted in.

Echo smiled at her quick-witted friend.

_“Oh, sweet Jesus!”_ Octavia paled watching as the woman’s hand slid up Zinnia’s thigh.

_“Does she even know who Zinnia is?”_ Octavia groaned.

_“India can deal with Zinnia.”_ Echo replied.

_“Why do you know her name?”_ Octavia snapped.

_“Ouch!”_ Raven grit her teeth at Echo.

_“Don't worry about Zinnia.”_ Echo evaded Octavia unwarranted concern.

_“It’s not Zinnia I’m worried about.”_ Octavia still eyed Echo meniceingly.

Echo looked puzzled, forcing Octavia to explain further.

_“I’m just wondering how well_ India _will ‘entertain’ - once Lexa removes the hands currently molesting her baby!”_ Octavia made a chopping motion.

_“Again…ouch.”_ Raven grimaced.

_“Shit!”_ Echo realised her mistake in leaving Zinnia unattended.

_“Maybe Lexa will react better than you both think? This is Luna’s place after all.”_ Raven interrupted.

Echo and Octavia offered Raven the same bemused look.

_“Yeah…I'm getting my Lexa’s mixed up.”_ Raven retracted her previous statement.

_“We need to do something, Zinnia is only seventeen!”_ Octavia downed her wine.

Raven stood suddenly, her chair scraping back on the wooden floor.

_“Ok! Let’s go save the whore! Then the planet!”_  Raven fist pumped the air.

Silence lingered...

_“After all these years. How are you still this weird, Reyes?”_ Echo tilted her head.

 

………………………

 

Little beknownst to the old friends and the wayward Zinnia, but Dahlia was much closer than any of them dare think.

Suddenly, it was as if the parlour came to a stand still. Dahlia’s heels clicked down the steel steps as she descended down into the main body of the parlour, her body clad in a fitting green dress while her dark hair curled artfuly, tumbling down her back. Dahlia’s eyes glinted in the low light. The clashing of cobalt blue and forest green merging into a delicious shade of viridian green.

_“Oh, my God!”_ Octavia took measurement of Dahlia’s form.

_“How weird has this got to be for Luna?”_ Raven whispered.

Octavia still remained transfixed as Dahlia’s long legs slipped out from between the split in her dress.

_“I remember when my legs looked like that.”_ Octavia sighed.

Echo’s eyes narrowed. The ice wolf would not deny young Dahlia’s beauty, however something else radiated from the pup...something new. Echo zoned in her vision, watching as Dahlia casually dragged her fingernails across the wallpaper has she descended the stairs. Echo noted how the paper tore immediately upon contact, Dahlia’s claws were so razor sharp they peeled the paper up into thin slithers revealing four perfectly sliced scars on the wall in Dahlia’s wake. Echo wondered if Dahlia even realised what she was doing? The destruction - so mindless! As if something deep from within was really at the wheel.

Dahlia’s eyes locked with Echo’s, as if the reluctant Queen-to-be had been reading her mind. The Omega refused to be the first to look away. Echo ground her teeth together as the need to submit and take her eyes to the floor overwhelmed her person, the intensity behind Dahlia’s eyes too electric to hold.

_“Fucker!”_ Echo mumbled as she looked down at the ground.

_“What?”_ Octavia frowned.

_“Nothing.”_ Echo cleared her throat.

Dahlia offered only a cautious nod in the direction of Raven and Octavia.

_“She’s better looking than Lexa, that’s for sure!”_ Octavia challenged, never having quite let go of her teenage self’s jelousy of Lexa.

The words were lost on the old Wolf. Every crackle of sound, every sparkle of light had been momentarily drowned out for Echo. Her only focus was Dahlia and the residual energy the girl had emitted.

_“There is something…something no one can see…what the fuck is it?”_ Echo whispered to herself.

_“You’re talking to yourself again, old woman?”_ Raven mocked.

The well-meaning mechanic had no idea of the feeling of dread that filled Echo’s heightened senses as Dahlia passed just inches from her body.

The parlour went back to its usual joviality.

Luna entertained her parlour’s guests as per usual. The Flou-girl was now pushing forty years of age and still looking as desirable as ever. The more regular clientele offered their usual harmless flirtations, as Lexa’s childhood sweetheart merrily traded social pleasantries.

What a wonderful place this had become! It was just what the clans needed. Those too old for the teen filled Trinity, yet too young for their bed before midnight, _they_ flocked to Luna’s parlour. All of them searching for some much-needed stimulation.

A parlour…Luna could think of no better way to describe the controlled, safe, adult environment she had devised. No man or woman dared lay a hand on Luna though - dared not approach the Flou-girl with amorous intentions. Lexa’s mark scarred Luna’s throat; the unorthodox Omega mating bite tattooed Luna’s flesh possessively. Luna preferred the term consort more than concubine. She belonged to Lexa. That she had no qualms with. Luna’s heart still beat faster and more arduously for her Queen than any other lover. Then there was Clarke, the sire of her children. Luna’s heart over the years had swelled in size. Who would have thought one could offer space to accommodate another love?

 Luna’s loyalty would always be to Lexa…but Clarke? She was just as much a part of Luna’s day to day affections as her glorious Queen. Luna willingly shared her body with either of the mated pair when those potent chemicals called to all three of them. The call to love, the call to bond, the call to breed. Luna’s one true love though, would always be her numerous impossible pups.

Luna placed the last of the empty pots and goblets on her tray. She turned briskly, her laugh sounding out as one of her favoured guests gave the punchline to his parting joke.

 Luna turned, only to feel her heart suddenly stall. The shock was too much. The usually dextrous fight master lost the grip on her tray. Her fingers abandoning their hold completely. The surrounding guests watched as the tray and pottery on board, tumbled to the ground, shattering into dozens of fractured pieces.

Luna creased her brow. Did her eyes deceive her? A perfect teenage vision of Lexa now stood twenty feet from her.

Dahlia stood motionless, her eyes locked on a paralysed Luna. It took the leader far too long to get a hold of herself.

_“Get it together, Luna.”_ Echo mumbled.

_“Have you injured yourself?”_ Dahlia drawled as she slowly approached a wide-eyed Luna.

Dahlia’s usual casual attire was replaced with the most striking of evening dresses.  It threw Luna terribly.

_“What are you doing in here? You are under age.”_ Luna whispered.

_“I am looking for Zinnia.”_

Dahlia suddenly took note of Luna’s frazzled manner.

_“My apologies. It is not my intention to unsettle you…”_ Dahlia stepped back from Luna.

_“Dahlia, I…”_

_“I take it you need a cigarette, Flo-girl?”_ Echo swooped in, coming heroically to Luna’s aid. She grabbed the floundering Flou-girl by the arm, tugging her away from the attractive teenager.

Dahlia watched on curiously as Luna was ushered out of her own parlour by Echo.

Echo pushed the rear service door open with her boot. She was already lighting her cigarette as the wintry night air whooshed into the parlour’s back room.

A shaky hand snatched the smoke from Echo’s clutches before the butt could reach her lips.

_“You know…for almost twenty years now, you have bummed smokes off me!”_ Echo smiled.

Luna’s hand shook terribly as she dragged in the fragrant smoke.

_“What the hell was that, Luna?”_

Luna did not respond. She looked up to the night sky as she exhaled a mass of smoke.

_“She look too much like Lexa for you in that fuckin’ dress? That’s gotta be…confusing!”_ Echo pried.

Luna kept her eyes on the twinkling night sky above as she responded.

_“There is something that sits beneath the surface of her skin. Since she was a little girl - I have seen flashes of something I cannot place.”_

Echo dropped the teasing banter. Her focus was now firmly on Luna. Her expression serious.

_“I saw it too. What the hell is it?”_ Echo nervously asked.

_“It is not Lexa that child remind me of, Echo.”_ Luna closed her jacket across her chest. A shiver climbing up her spine.

Echo frowned before suddenly realising whom Luna spoke of.

_“Lexa’s mother?”_ Echo briefly looked back into the parlour.

_“Did you ever see that accursed charcoal drawing? Those eyes! Those cheek bones - that …”_

_“That what?”_ Echo hung on Luna’s every word.

_“I love that child, Echo. She is exceptional! She is unique - she is also …untethered - conflicted.”_

_“Have you said any of this to Lexa?”_

Luna burst out laughing.

_“Aleksandria is impossible to approach regarding Dahlia. I have breast fed, bathed, and cared for every one of Lexa’s children. Lexa has never let anyone interfere with Dahlia though. Nobody!”_

_“What about Clarke?”_ Echo pressed.

_“She is spellbound! As any sire would be. Dahlia can do no wrong. She is still Clarke’s perfect little girl. Smart, beautiful, talented. Just like her mother.”_ Luna smiled.

Echo gazed back into the parlour, Luna wondered if the Ice wolf was even listening to her.

_“Tell me she’s not dangerous, Luna.”_ Echo suddenly seemed distracted.

Luna ran her eyes over her close friend, her constant council in times of stress. Echo stood rooted to the spot. Luna felt fear radiate from Echo’s aura as she strode towards her stricken friend.

The Flou-girl stood by Echo’s side, peering into the parlour with her long-time comrade.

_“Tell me she’s not dangerous...please.”_ Echo mindlessly repeated.

Luna spotted the source of Echo’s concern.

Ally…Dahlia’s hand on her shoulder. The captivating Natblida leaning in close to Ally’s ear, as if sharing a secret. Ally stood far too close to the hypnotic Dahlia. Her posture far too open and defenceless in the presence of such a siren.

“ _You’ll never meet a girl at a book club_!” Echo cursed her own stupidity.

Luna watched on as Ally stood protectively around Dahlia; straight back and proud shoulders, her fists clenched and ready by her side. Watchful wolf eyes - icy blue - scanning for any threat to the supposed vulnerable Omega in her care. Luna had seen this display from Clarke around herself many times.

_“Aleksandria has taught her special little girl everything she knows.”_ Luna sighed.

_“When is Lexa back from Azgeda?”_ Echo asked.

_“Tomorrow…she returns tomorrow.”_ Luna placed a hand on Echo’s shoulder.

 

 

 


	10. Finding Jago.

 

_"In my eyes. indisposed. In disguises no one knows."_ D

 

* * *

 

 

 Zinnia slammed the door behind her as she followed Dahlia into her quarters. The force used to do something as simple as close a door was immoderate and heavy-handed, as per usual with the teen wolf.

The brunette grimaced as several of her paintings shuddered on the walls. Trinkets upon her dresser jumped out of place as her oafish sister stomped in behind her.

Dahlia rolled her eyes at her sister’s brutish ways. Zinnia would never manage to strike an enemy down with stealth. She was excessively loud, far too crass, way too hot headed.

_“You dragged me out of the Parlour, before everyone!”_ Zinnia shrieked.

Dahlia took a breath. She was confident that this particular sister would test the patience of any saint. Would bring the most peace loving of individuals to arms. She tolerated the blondes foul mouth and childish outbursts though. Tolerated her sister's lack of decorum when others would not. Dahlia knew full well that beneath the crude jokes and aggressive swagger lay a heart of pure gold. Clarke’s good nature ran throughout the immature Zinnia. She just needed time to grow up.

_“I did not drag you. We need to locate Jago. I need your help, sister.”_ Dahlia sighed.

The tense teenager's black blood boiled within her young veins as she tried desperately to remain on the side of light. Her mother's ichor rushed aggressively throughout her system in recent days.

_“I'm sick of covering for him.”_ Zinnia snapped.

Dahlia turned to face her irate sister.

_“Why won’t he just tell mother?  Tell her that he likes Alpha’s?”_ Zinnia threw her arms into the air. Her voice booming.

_“Hush now!”_ Dahlia brought a finger to her own lips.

Zinnia clasped a hand over her own loud mouth, suddenly realising all of Polis could hear her.

_“Sit down you fool!”_ Dahlia kept her voice low, yet pointed sharply at her bed.

Keeping Jago’s secret was now becoming a problem for the young, impatient Zinnia.

 Dahlia leant her hip against the dresser as she changed out of her heels, keeping her voice to a whisper as she responded to the frowning sister sat on her bed.

“ _In his mind, he imagines that mother will take issue. Alpha-Alpha couplings are rare. He is much closer to mother than anyone else. Mother’s disapproval would cut him much deeper than sires.”_ Dahlia explained.

_“How can mother possibly take issue? She has two mates! She got pregnant when she was nineteen. She didn’t even know sires name! She cannot keep her hands off “Aunty Luna”, not even in public!”_

Zinnia’s voice lifted an Octave. Rolling her eyes at the ludicrous title of _Aunty_.

Dahlia smiled broadly. The thought of their strict -controlled mother being so impetuous and wild with a younger version of their sire, that image greatly amused Dahlia. The idea that her mother believed she kept her dark passions for Luna subdued, that was even more absurd.

“ _I do not think Mother will take issue. In fact, I think she already knows.” Dahlia wiggled a brow._

_“Then why don’t we confirm it to her?”_ Zinnia spoke excitedly from the bed.

_“It is not our place sister, Jago must be the one. He is not ready yet it would seem.”_ Dahlia shrugged.

Zinnia let out a great gasp of air.

_“I feel his upset. When his heart sinks, so does mine.”_ Zinnia lowered her head, sadness stretching across her handsome looks.

Dahlia approached the bed. Her lungs promptly releasing a long sigh.  She sat close to her sulking Alpha sister, exchanging the usual ruffle of blonde hair, for a tender caress. Zinnia leant into her sister’s maternal touch.

_“I feel his heartbreak too. Still, we must respect our brother's wishes.”_ Dahlia instructed her impulsive sister.

Zinnia let out a loud, frustrated groan. Throwing herself back onto her sister’s bed with a bounce.

Dahlia watched curiously as her sister twisted her body around. Still laying her back on the soft mattress, the Alpha wiggled her body towards her sister and rested her head in her lap. Just as she would as a puppy.

Dahlia repositioned to allow Zinnia some comfort. The elder sister immediately set upon the impossible task of braiding wild blonde curls.

_“What on earth of you done to your hair?”_ Dahlia shook her head.

Zinnia ignored Dahlia’s fears over her scruffy appearance. She posed her own question instead.

_“Why is he so weak, Dar?”_ Zinnia looked up at her sister from below.

_“He is not weak. You must not say such things.”_ Dahlia playfully tapped her sister's nose.

“ _If I were into other Alpha. I would just come out to mother. I’d be like …Hey Mom, What’s for dinner? By the way…I like cock.”_

Dahlia burst out laughing. Zinnia’s vulgarity almost as amusing as the thought of Lexa cooking.

Zinnia screwed up her face. The idea of herself with another Alpha so perplexing.

Zinnia smiled on hearing her sisters continued laughter.

_“What? Why are you always laughing at me?”_ Zinnia grinned at her giggling sister.

_“You…you are always so preposterous! You act like a child. What Omega in her right mind will be able to suffer you?”_

Dahlia lifted her knee. Freeing herself from the weight of her sister’s head in her lap.

Zinnia remained lay on her side as she watched Dahlia stride across the bedroom. The Alpha watched as her sister began to prune herself in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her long dark hair, then carefully licked the end of a finger- tip, to aid in shaping her perfectly tweezed eyebrow. Dahlia glanced into the corner of the mirror, catching her sister staring at her.

_“What are you looking at?”_ Dahlia paused her grooming.

_“You…you look so much like Mother.”_   Zinnia smiled.

Dahlia peered at her own reflection. Only Lexa’s flawless skin and striking features staring back at her.

_“Well…doesn’t that just make me the luckiest girl in the world.”_ Dahlia’s tone was nothing but sarcastic.

_“Half of court wish to bed you.”_ Zinnia grumbled.

_“Only half?”_ Dahlia looked back over her shoulder with a wry smile.

_“All day, I listen to their comments over you.”_

Zinnia fanned herself comically. Imitating her sister’s overcome fan club.

“ _Oh!... She’s so hot. Her eyes are so hypnotic. She’s so stunningly beautiful!”_

Dahlia struggled to hide her smile. Throwing a well-aimed cushion at her mocking sister’s head.

_“You allow these people to speak of your sister in such a way?”_ Dahlia teased.

_“No! Only yesterday, I all but broke a woman’s arm in your honour.”_ Zinnia boasted.

“What did she say?” Dahlia asked, curiously.

_“I would rather not repeat it. She will not be repeating it, trust me.”_ Zinnia frowned heavily.

_“Will any suitor ever meet with your approval?”_ Dahlia went back to her pruning.

_“No!”_  Zinnia snapped.

Dahlia laughed harder.

_“Then I am doomed to die single and unclaimed.”_ Dahlia looked up to the heavens.

_“Pretty much.”_ Zinnia folded her arms.

Dahlia shook her head.

_“Never fear, sister. There is no Alpha or Omega brave enough to bed Heda’s first born.”_ Dahlia sighed.

_“Not even the weirdo?”_

Dahlia froze. Zinnia regretted her choice of word instantly.

_“Don’t lose your shit.”_ Zinnia held out a defensive hand.

“ _Then don't call her that.”_ Dahlia frowned, her eyes darkening.

_“Sorry …Ally of the Azgeda?”_ Zinnia bowed, mockingly.

Dahlia took her time in answering, causing Zinnia to tense up a little.

_“She is my friend, my only true friend.”_ Dahlia faintly whispered.

_“I am your friend.”_ Zinnia pounded her chest.

_“You! … are my over protective, foul-mouthed dog of a sister.”_ Dahlia pointed playfully.

_“I only want what’s best for you. I do love you. Just because I don't say it, doesn't mean it isn't so.”_ Zinnia blushed.

Dahlia leant back against her dresser. The stoic girl unable to stop girlish glee from painting her face. Zinnia very rarely made her love for her family vocal.

_“I know you love me. As I do you.”_ Dahlia looked lovingly upon the rosy-cheeked Zinnia.

_“Yea, well…You're still never mating.”_ Zinnia added.

_“If you say so.”_ Dahlia winked.

Zinnia found her mind wandering. Dahlia noted the curious blonde hovering around an unspoken question.

_“Have you?”_ The blonde mumbled.

_“Have I what?”_ Dahlia replied.

_“You know?”_ Zinnia scoffed.

“No, I don’t know what you mean.” Dahlia felt her cheeks flush.

Zinnia replaced her footing. The pup stood a little taller and raised her chin, briefly having a flash of Lexa cast over her, rather than Clarke.

_“Have you bedded another? Perhaps you share mother’s desires for both Alpha and Omega?”_ Zinnia truly was curious.

Dahlia lost her confident poise. Zinnia noted the way her sister's eyes darted around the room, the way her posture changed.

_“I... I’m not sure we should discuss it.”_ Dahlia’s voice wobbled.

_“Ok. We don’t have to talk about…that stuff.”_ Zinnia witnessed an unexpected splash of panic settle over Dahlia.

An awkward silence fell between the two incredibly close sisters. Zinnia wished she hadn’t broached the subject, as Dahlia sought to find the right words to offer in reply.

_“It’s… It’s just not safe. It’s not safe for anyone to be intimate with me.”_ Dahlia whispered.

_“Safe?”_ Zinnia narrowed her eyes.

_“Yes... safe.”_ Dahlia could barely look directly at Zinnia.

Zinnia felt her heart rate pick up.

_“There is a precarious instability, whenever I feel… amorous.”_ Dahlia spoke of her darker self-scrambling for release.

_“You mean, you go old school mom level crazy when you get the horn…something like that?”_

_“Yes…something like that.”_ Dahlia rolled her eyes.

_“Does that mean you will always be alone?”_ Zinnia felt sadness take hold of her for Dahlia.

_“Perhaps that is for the best.”_ Dahlia weakly smiled.

_“Can you not talk to mother…”_

_“No!”_ Dahlia snapped. Causing Zinnia to startle.

_“But, mother has been there. She will understand better tha…”_

_“My mother and I are not the same. My relationship with her is not the same as yours.”_

The two stood for several seconds. No words, no more questions, just static and silence.

_“Come, let us search for Jago.”_ Dahlia changed the subject.

_“Ok.”_ Zinnia backed down.

 

………………………………………………………………….


	11. Dark girl rising.

 

 

_"All the love gone bad, turned my world to black, tattooed all I see, all that I am, and all I'll be."  D_

 

* * *

 

An absent without leave Jago...

 

That seemed about as likely to Dahlia as finding a snowflake in hell.

 

 _“He must be with Sire?”_ Zinnia puffed as she struggled to keep up with her speedy sister's long legs.

 

A much younger, fuller faced vision of Lexa searched the corridors of the great tower.

 _“It is not like Jago to be absent from his duties. Mother will not be impressed.”_   Dahlia warned.

 

 _“Pftt! - Jago can get away with anything. He is totally Mom’s favourite.”_ Zinnia still trailed behind

Dahlia.

 

 _“I am hoping he has just forgotten his commitment to court today.”_ Dahlia sighed.

 _“How the hell has he forgotten something like that? He is gonna be a shitty first minister. I won’t do as he says when I am Prime.”_ Zinnia protested.

 

_“When do you ever do as anyone says!” Dahlia opened the door to yet another room, not actually listening to her sister’s chatter._

 

Zinnia smirked at her sister's observations. The blonde then grabbed for her radio.

 

_“Amina…if you're receiving this you need to come and help us look for Jago. I've had enough of this shit! Mini Mom and I are over in the Military halls.”_

 

No response from Amina…Still no sign of Jago.

 

The sisters headed towards the west side of the tower. These hard-concrete corridors so familiar to both. Dahlia looked down briefly as she walked. The grey cement with its roving cracks looked like tributaries seeking an ocean. The surface of the de-stressed cement reminded Dahlia of her own Natblida flesh. In the early hours, when she would awake from the surrealist of dreams. When her inherited ichor demanded release. Dahlia would sit straight bolt up, her breath laboured and her skin as ice. A glance across to her dresser mirror would reveal the most vampiric of images. Pale skin riddled with black veins. A gloopy- toxic oil slick polluting her eyes.

 _“We’re almost in the guard’s quarters now. Dahlia, slow the fuck down!”_ Zinnia tired of the race to find Jago.

 

Dahlia gently shook her head from side to side, snapping herself out of her daydream. Her sisters voice very much a distant echo.

 

The two siblings now entered the military halls. Lexa’s elite guards were privy to their own floor within the tower. Only the best and brightest had the luxury of living on the same grounds as the Queen. As elite as they were. Zinnia knew them all still to be dogs.

 _“I don’t think you should go in there.”_ Zinnia blocked her sister's path with a muscled arm.

 

Dahlia had no time for her sister posturing.

 

 _“Zinnia! I am not afraid of the testosterone filled, Alpha apes within these walls.”_ Dahlia folded her arms

 

_“It’s planet Alpha in there. You’re just…”_

 

 _“I am just what?”_ Dahlia frowned.

 

 _“_ _A girl. ”_ Zinnia looked her sister up and down. Her usual feminine attire hugged her form enticingly.

 

Dahlia stood with the oddest of looks across her face. Her Alpha sister’s concern over her virtue in the presence of so many lusting Alpha would have been sweet, if not for the attached sexism.”

 

 _"They won’t say anything to your face, but they will behind your back. I will hear that then I will want to kill them all.”_ Zinnia snarled.

 

Dahlia kept her eyes locked on her ignorant sister.

 

 _“Today, you will learn a crucial lesson, Alpha!”_ Dahlia glared.

 

Zinnia felt Dahlia take her hand in her own. She turned her sister wrist to face upwards.

 

 _“Give me that!”_ Dahlia spied Zinnia’s hair tie.

 

Zinnia did as instructed. Watching her sister gather up her long dark waves swiftly. She secured the thick dark hair in the tightest of ponytails. Making herself look somewhat harder and warrior like.

 

 _“You will see how being a pretty girl pales in comparison to being a strong one, sister,”_ Dahlia

warned.

………………………….

Dahlia made her presence known with a hard shove of the guard’s main door. Immediately, she was met with the sight of half-naked warriors. Their bodies hard as stone and their jaws covered in long, thick, wiry beards.

 

Dahlia strode through the hushed Alphas. Zinnia clenched her fists as she saw eyes roving immediately all over her beautiful sister’s form. Just one comment. Just one whistle or groan and Zinnia would break the bone and bruise flesh of these wolves.

 

Dahlia slowed as she reached the most central part of the room.

 

 _“Which of you has laid eyes upon my brother?”_ Dahlia lifted her chin, echoing a commanding Lexa.

 

The guards looked amongst each other. Dahlia now attracted a crowd of Alpha around her. They herded together like weather-worn cattle.  Zinnia saw the smiles and the winks. She bit her tongue though. She chose to stand just a few feet back from her determined sister.

 

_“I ask you again. Where is Jago-kom-Trikru?”_

One foolish young guard gave just the answer Dahlia hoped for.

 

 _“I can’t take you to your brother, Omega. I can take you some place real quiet though.”_ The man braved, earning the odd snigger from the more junior ranks in the crowd.

Dahlia searched the gathered guards with hungry eyes.

 

_“Step forward. One brave enough to heckle the first-born daughter of Heda deserves his reward.”_

 

The young guard stepped out from the crowd against the calls from his peers to not be so foolish. Lexa would slit the throat of anyone who offered even the mildest innuendo to her child.”

 

Dahlia only held out a gracious hand.

 _“Please, come. Stand with me.”_ Dahlia beckoned the smirking boy with her long fingers.

 

 _“What are you doing?”_ Zinnia whispered from behind.

 

 _“Rewarding this man’s bravery.”_ Dahlia glanced back over her shoulder at a nervous Zinnia.

 

A collective hush settled over the crowd, the young guard retook one last glance towards his peers.

 

 _“Bushhadas!”_ He muttered.

 

Dahlia’s took the boy’s face into her heated palms. Her fingers stretching outwards like the most fatal of arachnids across the man’s face. Zinnia noted only a quick quiver down his legs. As if the mildest of electric shocks had earthed through his warm body. Zinnia grimaced at first, fearful that her sister was about to kiss the fool in her hands. Instead, she whispered into his ear.

After only mere seconds, the man stumbled back. He seemed unharmed. Zinnia released her breath. Her powerful sister had seemingly thought twice on any public display of the extent of her power.

Zinnia thought again though, as Dahlia came into full view.

 

Sparkling black pools of tar had taken over enchanting green eyes. Razor edge animal claws replaced painted female nails. Short-sharp omega fangs pressed lightly into a full bottom lip. Even with the warm orange lamp light, Dahlia’s skin appeared blanched and spectator like. Dark veins lifted quickly to the surface as Dahlia morphed comfortably into her darker self. 

 

Zinnia knew Natblida DNA ran in her own veins also. She knew her mother’s genes made her that bit faster, that bit stronger. Her mother had not gifted the Natblida traits upon her second born as they had the first though. Lexa had no child quite like Dahlia. No child to have absorbed so much of the 14th clan. Dahlia was baked in infinite power. She radiated another worldly presence. Dahlia’s current appearance was alien within all the clans, all except one of course.

 

The exchanges of lust filled smirks, and wanton winks were replaced by sweating brows. Shaking hairy hands, fumbled for the hilt of a weapon as an entirely different female creature stood before her audience. The terror within the faces of these Alpha served as a snapshot to the genuine threat that still resided within the dead zone. Above the high barbed wire fences and patrolled containment wall on the rim of Azgeda, the Natblida awaited. At this moment, Dahlia stood as a frightening testimony to the fear that remained over the neglected 14th clan.

 _“Where is Jago-kom-trikru?”_ Dahlia’s voice bellowed over the cowering troops.

_“Thud!”_

 

A dull crashing sound from behind startled all the mighty Alpha, including Zinnia. Dahlia smirked mercilessly. She couldn’t help it.

The fool from the stage had run himself straight into a concrete wall. Zinnia pushed passed Dahlia to see for herself. She watched the boy gather himself up. Her mouth dropped open as he strolled calmly away. He took ten purposeful long strides, turned, then ran straight back into the solid wall again.

The guards dare not stop him. Dare not interfere with whatever spell Dahlia had seemingly cast over him

_“Thud!!”_

 

Zinnia closed her eyes as she heard bone crunch. She found it difficult to look at the boy as he rose a second time, returning to the same starting point, only to charge at the solid wall again.

_“Thud!!!”_

 

 _“One of you at least have the balls to point us in the right direction.”_ Zinnia barked at the terrified guards.

 _“Faster!”_ Dahlia suddenly shouted over Zinnia.

The boy obeyed.

 

 _“Dahlia stop this, please!”_ Zinnia raised her voice, turning to face her sister with pleading eyes.

 

 _“I will not be made an object for these vile dogs to ogle. They will learn the consequence of thinking me or any other woman less.”_ Dahlia calmly stated.

 

Zinnia stepped forward to tackle the boy as he sprinted towards the wall. It happened too quickly though. He clattered into the wall a fourth time, thankfully knocking himself out.”

 

Dahlia looked over at the passed-out boy. Zinnia swore she saw something flash in her sister's eyes, something she hadn’t seen before.

 

 _“One of you speak up before this tower runs out of walls!”_ Dahlia snarled viciously.

An older guard stepped forward, pointing in the direction of the bathing quarters. He revealed the last known location of the missing Jago. Dahlia couldn’t help but smile as he lowered his head before her.

 

 _“Scrape up your foolish comrade! Ensure he has not soiled my mother's floor.”_ That was Dahlia’s final instruction to the royal guard.

 

 _“Come on!”_ Zinnia grabbed for Dahlia’s hand.

…………………………………..

The sisters remained hand in hand and side by side as they left the stunned Alpha troops. It was a show of family unity, even when at odds with one another, solidarity was paramount. That is what Lexa taught all of her children. Family stand together, no matter what goes on behind closed doors.

 _“You enjoyed that way too much.”_ Zinnia lectured as the two entered the bath halls. Both siblings were now out of sight from nervous troops. Zinnia quickly snatched her hand out from Dahlia’s as she sought to walk away from her unstable sibling.

 

Dahlia’s appearance was now much closer to her Skai-kru heritage than Natblida.

 

 _“Do you not enjoy your fist fights and tavern brawling?”_ Dahlia challenged as she rooted herself to the spot, refusing to venture further.

 

 _“I do. But it’s not the same thing.”_ Zinnia shook her head she continued to walk away.

 

 _“Really?”_ Dahlia laughed loudly from behind.

 

Zinnia came to a screeching halt.

 

_“Yea, really! You know how our people still fear what lies beyond Azgeda. You can play on that because…”_

 

 _“Because of what?”_ Dahlia frowned.

 

Zinnia regretted starting the conversation.

 

 _“Say it!”_ Dahlia grit her teeth.

 

 _“Because you’re one of them! Just like Mother!”_ Zinnia finally spat it out.

 

Silence fell…

 

 _“I am half Natblida. I am also half Skai-kru.”_ Dahlia declared, proudly.

_“What I just saw Dar, that was nothing but old-school Mom up there. You know how that went down. She almost murdered Luna, then tried to end her own life.”_

_“I can make use of my darker Natblida self to serve a purpose. She has her uses, as you have just witnessed.”_

Zinnia came closer to her arrogant sister.

 

_“Be very careful, Sis. One day, you might not get her back in the box. Then we’re all screwed.”_

Zinnia’s voice rumbled with concern.

 

 _“I know what I am doing,”_ Dahlia whispered.

 

_“I hope you do. Because not even I can calm you when she rises within you like that.”_

Dahlia only stared back. Her eyes appeared to be running a diagnostic over her sister’s fear filled face.

 

Zinnia’s attention was taken my muffled sounds emanating from the bath house.

 

  _“If these fuckers have done something to him they will have to deal with both of our dark sides!”_

 Zinnia placed a hand on the bathhouse door handle.

 

 

 

 


	12. The mirror cracked.

 

 _"and now my bitter hands, cradle broken glass, of what was everything, all the pictures have, all been washed in black,_ _tattooed everything." D_

 

* * *

 

 

Dahlia picked up the pace as Jago’s muffled cries increased in volume. Zinnia was close behind as both sisters sought to come to their brother's aid.

 _“Wait”_ Zinnia suddenly called out to Dahlia as an active Alpha scent caught her nose.

The still power drunk Dahlia did not heed her sisters calls to halt.

Zinnia smelt the air again. The closer they got to their stricken brother's location, the stronger the scent of semen became.

_“Dahlia, wait! Don’t open that…”_

The door to the bathhouse swung open.

There, crouched on all fours, was a heated Jago. His skin flushed and his body dripping with sweat. Lexa’s favoured personal guard was quickly thrusting into his bare backend. Quint continued to pummel his Queen's son, unaware they were no longer alone.

Zinnia quickly covered her eyes as her brother allowed the man-mountain that was Quint to finish inside him.

 _“Whoa!”_ Zinnia twirled around to face the bathhouse's beautifully tiled wall.

Dahlia slammed the door behind her, startling both lovers.

Quint removed himself quickly from his teen lover. His face turned ashen white and fixed in terror as Dahlia stood only feet from them, for one horrible moment, Quint believed it to be his Queen stood before him, not Dahlia.

 _“Dahlia! What are you doing here?”_ Jago squealed.

Both caught out Alpha now stood as far apart as possible. It was too late though. Their secret was out.

 _“This is what you’re doing?”_ Dahlia mumbled. Shocked her sensible brother would behave in such a way

Jago blushed.

 _“We have been searching this Tower for you, worried for your safety. It turns out you are here…fucking!”_ Dahlia shouted.

Worryingly…that got Zinnia's attention. It was rare that Dahlia resorted to profanity. Even through his shame, Jago managed to offer a concerned look towards Zinnia. A dark cloud of toxic energy seemed to form around their sister.

 _“I will take my leave.”_ Quint grabbed for his discarded uniform.

 _“Yes! You will!”_ Dahlia growled.

Quint looked upon Jago only once, before bowing clumsily to a seething Dahlia. At that, Lexa’s most loyal guard was gone. He scurried away quickly, leaving the triplets immersed in awkward silence.

_“Dahlia i…”_

“ _Do not give me excuses, brother. Whom you share your body with is none of my concern, abandoning your duties to my court is.”_

Jago frowned, his face etched in concern

 _“You mean mothers court.”_ He gently corrected a darkening Dahlia.

Zinnia abandoned her embarrassment over seeing her brother with another Alpha. Instead, her focus remained on a struggling Dahlia. Her light side was still battling to keep her dark side at bay. It seemed the Dahlia that caused terror in the guard’s quarters only minutes ago had not left the stage. Still, she sought the spotlight.

 _“Dahlia…you need to calm down.”_ Zinnia stepped towards her angered sister.

Dahlia set hungry eyes on a gravely concerned Teen-beast.

 _“This is Mother’s court, Mothers kingdom.”_ Zinnia held her sibling's dark eyes.

_“Dahlia, I apologise. I let my needs overcome my common-sense and...”_

_“How dare you seek to challenge me.”_ Dahlia ignored her brother entirely. Her eyes remained firmly on a brave Zinnia

 _“You’re outta line, Dah.”_ Zinnia stood her ground as Dahlia glared at her with fire in her eyes.

The crackling sound of a radio nearby forced all three siblings to pause. A gossiping member of Lexa’s own elite guard wandered towards the hushed triplets.

 _“Who does she think she is? Coming in here like that. We should just go to war on those black blooded fucks.”_ The guard sneered into his radio

 _“We don’t have the numbers.”_ The voice on the other side replied

_“Our Queen has built the biggest military force the clans have ever seen. This is a cause that must be fought, a battle that must be won. I despise the 14 th Clan!”_

Zinnia held her breath, instant regret swelling in her gut at allowing Dahlia to enter the guard’s quarters to start with. Jago noted how the light seemed to alter in the room. A dark shadow passing overhead, as if a great black cloud had momentarily passed through rays of sunlight.

 _“When Jago is first minister, He might think to take on the 14 th Clan.” _The voice over the radio spoke.

  _“That faggot! He is too busy sucking cocks down here every week.”_ The guard laughed heartily.

Zinnia eyed Jago.

As the mouthy guard entered the bath hall, he stopped dead. The radio dropping from his hands as he was met by the sight of all three triplets. He felt for the knife by his belt on sight of Dahlia. Her skin is now pasty white, her eyes black as tar yet again.

 _“What did you just say?”_ Dahlia shakily whispered. Her blood boiled with such ferocity within that she could barely speak.

 _“Nothing. I…I did n't say anything.”_ Zinnia struggled to hear the horrified guard. His voice crumbled like ash on the wind.

 _“What did you just say!?”_ Dahlia hollered. Her voice exploding in anger.

 _“Shit!”_ Zinnia startled.

Dahlia encroached on the guard’s personal space, her movements weightless as she crept closer to her prey.

 _“Faggot...that is what you said.”_ Dahlia hissed.

The guard swallowed deeply as Dahlia ran her eyes over his face. It was as if she were trying to memorise every feature.

 _“Such small-minded bigotry. You would seek to make another feel so uncomfortable in their own skin? Perhaps in response… I should remove all of yours?_ Dahlia snarled through gritted teeth.

Zinnia sought to intervene. She placed a calming hand on her sister's shoulder.

_“Dar…stop! It’s just a stupid word from the old world.”_

_“Yet the sentiment of hate remains the same.”_   Dahlia’s dark eyes never left the guards.

The young man moved to retreat, he couldn’t move quite quick enough though. His feet sank into the ground as if he waded through gloopy sands that sought to pull him under. Dahlia’s hand thrust forward and gripped firmly at his throat. Those eyes now pitch black as night and fixed in focus on her kill. Dahlia’s breath burnt upon on his cheek. Her saliva catching his face like a Spitting Cobra as she hissed. Something gurgled in the guard’s throat as Dahlia lifted him, his toe tips frantically traced the floor beneath as he tried desperately to ground himself.

Zinnia stepped back quickly, not quite believing what she was seeing.

Jago looked on slacked jawed. Even he and the muscled Zinnia would struggle to lift this man’s weight with two hands, let alone one.

_“Don’t let this piece of shit dull the light inside you. Dar. You have worked so hard to keep a hold of it.” Zinnia stood by her sister's side, watching as her grip tightened._

_“He does not offend me, sister. I do not care what this imbecile calls me_.” Jago offered.

 _“Oh, but I care,”_ Dahlia smirked up at the guard, his face quickly turning blue.

Zinnia whispered softly to her vulnerable sister as she wobbled on the high wire of restraint. The triplets were so connected, Jago and Zinnia felt that black cancer spirit that metastasised from deep within their powerful sister spread aggressively within.

 _“He isn’t worth it. Let him go, Dar…. Beja.”_ Zinnia spoke softly.

_“You would defend this retch? This racist. This vile scum that thinks himself so entitled that he can judge another soul as less. I tire of these male dogs and their self-anointed privilege.”_

The guard spluttered out his discomfort as Dahlia’s nails pierced into his skin.

_“I don’t give a shit about him. It’s you I’m worried about. You can’t let her out of the box twice in one day!” Zinnia pleaded._

Dahlia laid vacant eyes upon her sister. Two cavernous pits that led down towards a hollow chamber that’s inner light was fading rapidly.

 _“What on earth makes you think that the sister that sits and braids your hair, isn’t the falsity? Isn’t the veneer, isn’t the girl trapped inside the box?_ A dark Dahlia was slowly breaking free from within

Zinnia stepped further back to look at her sister with clearer eyes. Zinnia saw blackened gums, pasty white skin, ripples and currents of black blood flushing through thick worm-like veins. Dahlia’s eyes no longer held that enchanting seafoam green calm. Zinnia saw nothing but war in this Dahlia’s gaze.

 _“That’s bullshit!”_ Zinnia frowned

 _“Do you have any idea how utterly exhausting it is?... pretending to be anything other than her daughter.”_ Dahlia sighed.

 _“She’s our Mother too.”_ Zinnia looked to Jago.

Dahlia’s face saddened as if she battled tears.

 _“But… she hasn’t left you like this. With this toxic blood burning in your veins, with these gaping wounds at your wrists that split open against my will and offer such torment to others! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”_ Dahlia croaked.

 _“I don’t know, you’re right. Please…just breath Dar, just breath. It’s gonna be ok.”_ The kindness in Zinnia’s tone was her final attempt to reel her sister in with reason.

 _“Mother's_ heart is no longer filled with darkness, Dahlia. She would tell you to reprimand this man as our law states. He is certainly guilty of inciting hatred.” Jago quickly came to his absent mother’s defence.

_“How sweet. It would be you to leap to her defence…mothers favourite. Tell me…do you still lie to yourself, brother? Believing the monster that lives within me is not the same monster that sits beneath her skin also?_

_“This darkness bullshit is the lie… let. him. go!”_ Zinnia placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.

 _“Be mindful of your tone. Especially If you ever wish this urchin to walk again, sister.”_ Dahlia warned

The guard grimaced in pain as Dahlia all but snapped his neck.

 _“I just want my sister back_!” Zinnia drew her blade, her feet rooted in an attack position. If Dahlia’s darkness did not abate with kind words, Zinnia would offer only combat.

 _“You would be foolish enough to draw a weapon on me? There is only one that can get a blade to my flesh…and it isn’t you,_ Zinnia.”

 Dahlia glanced down at the steel tip inches from her chest.

“You shoulda stayed in your damn box. My sister isn’t a monster, she’s tough and beautiful like my Mother. Now… fight me, Natblida!” Zinnia pointed the tip of her blade at a changed Dahlia.

Dahlia turned to face the captured guard. She removed his sword from his belt, then whispered tenderly to her kill. Her nose pressed up against his cheek as she inhaled the scent of fear that seeped from his flesh.

_“I Promise, I will not forget you. Trust that you will suffer for days in my care.”_

_“Umff!”_

Dahlia threw the man’s body at the nearest wall. It hit the mirror behind like a sack of rotten fruit.

Creeping slowly forward, Dahlia glanced at her reflection in the cracked mirror. She ran a curious finger across her own reflection. She seemed dazed by her own image.

 _“So pretty…just like Mommy.”_ She darkly whispered.

Jago stood by Zinnia’s side, the two stepped back from Dahlia as she turned and stalked forwards steadily, her eyes never leaving the impetuous Zinnia.

 _“What on earth are you doing?”_ Jago side-mouthed Zinnia

_“Getting my ass handed to me by a 135Ib Omega, that’s what I’m doing!”_

_“We cannot win this. She is stronger than both of us combined.”_ Jago clenched his fists.

_“I’m not trying to win, I’m trying to stall!”_

 Zinnia puffed out a breath as Jago raised a brow…

 _“May I ask why you would do something so idiotic?”_ Jago quickly checked behind him as he stepped backwards.

 _“Because we need Amina here!”_ The teenage Skai-beast readied herself to face Dahlia.

Dahlia’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her slender neck swaying side to side as if the sweetest drug was suddenly injected into her system. This feeling. This torrid, addictive rush of darkness. It crawled around Dahlia’s insides always. Right now, it was taking over.

 _“You need to be taught some manners, sister.”_ Dahlia rolled up her sleeves.

 _“Good luck with that! Mom’s been trying for nearly eighteen years.”_ Zinnia weakly smiled.

 _“Her methods are somewhat differing to mine.”_ Dahlia grinned.

 _“Where the fuck is Amina?”_ Zinnia cursed under her breath.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Amina had a hop in her step as she headed in the direction of the guard’s quarters. She was not alone as she happily bounced along.

 _“Can you believe it? My Grandmother thinks I am capable enough to work on the beta project.”_ Amina grinned wildly.

The happy teen held back a squeal as she tugged on Ally’s muscled arm. The soulful girl pulled her chaperone into her side as she leapt up and down.

 _“You’re always very excitable, Amina.”_ Ally frowned.

 _“What of it?”_ The girl pulled Ally’s hand into her own, dancing into a playful twirl before gracefully landing in the ice pups hold.

 _“You’re very capable. I think you will make a fine Doctor. One that makes a difference.”_ Ally smiled cheerily.

The two friends continued down the long straight corridor. Amina laughing as she waltzed with the unusual Ally of the Azgeda. Every high-spirited step took them closer to the guard’s quarters and the bath house within.

 _“Zinnia is here you think?”_ Ally enquired.

 _“That’s what she said over the radio. Looking for Jago.”_ Amina untangled herself from her friend.

 _“Is she alone?”_ Ally added.

Amina rolled her eyes, turning back around to face her odd friend.

 _“You mean, is Dahlia with her?”_ Amina struggled not to smile.

 _“That is not what I asked.”_ Ally blushed,

 _“You don’t ha..”_ Amina stopped mid-sentence.

Something suddenly striking the girl. Amina stepped tentatively towards the heavy wooden door of the guard’s quarters. Something beyond that barrier was very wrong indeed.

Ally watched on with intrigue as Amina’s eyes flashed once with a white light.

 _“What is it, Amina?”_ Ally asked curiously.

Amina held a hand to her heart. She drew in a short, sharp breath.

 _“Dahlia, …oh no.”_ Amina whispered.

Ally frowned heavily in the direction of the guard’s quarters.

Both picked up the pace, Amina steadily breaking into a run as Dahlia’s dark energy buzzed through the air like a swarm of angered wasp. Her quick feet took her through the guard’s quarters, down the short corridors, then straight into the bathhouse…straight into the path of Dark Dahlia.

Amina’s s face was momentarily drawn in confusion. The Dahlia that stood before her now, her movements were odd. They were much closer to the wolf than Amina had ever noticed previously. The hairs on Amina’s neck stood on end. Danger scented the air around her as the door behind slammed shut and locked of its own accord.

 _“What has become of you?”_ Amina sighed

Zinnia eyed Amina. That telling look between siblings that knew a secret. Dahlia circled Amina. Luna’s first born locked eyes with her struggling sibling.

 _“I will not fight you, sister.”_ Amina stated firmly.

 _“No? Are you certain of that?”_ … Dahlia smiled.

Amina swallowed. In the presence of such darkness, something within herself bubbled up to the surface instantly.

_“You know, my mother could never defeat yours in hand to hand combat. Perhaps I can make up for that failure.”_

_“Our mother.”_ …Amina corrected Dahlia.

_“You think yourself special Amina? You and the rest of your trifecta mongrels. Just because my mother's blood corrupted you in the womb?_

Amina held Dahlia’s dark eyes.

 _“Anything that came out of her following me means nothing to her! You are all just runts and after birth.”_ Dahlia smiled wickedly

 _“Amina…ignore her.”_ Zinnia stood by Amina's side, Jago still struggled to look away from his sister's fierce black eyes.

 _“What is wrong brother? Do you wish yourself to be Omega like me? Would that suit your needs more I wonder.”_ Dahlia threw a look of pity over her brother.

 _“Leave him alone.”_ Amina placed her body between her lost sister and wounded brother.

Dahlia still hoped to bait the light, peace-loving sister into conflict.

 _“Dear sweet Aunty Luna. My Mother is at least committed to one cause. Not many would keep a whore for this long. She must be most accommodating to my mother’s needs. Filthy I often imagine.”_ Dahlia raised a brow as an image of Luna flashed in her mind.

Amina felt her breathing increase, her hand now tightening around the hilt of her blade. Dahlia's eyes dropped to the sound of Amina skin creaking around the leather handle.

Dahlia stepped closer…

_“Whatever belongs to my mother, automatically belongs to me! I will ensure I get my turn on the family whore!”_

Zinnia couldn’t move quick enough. Amina threw herself at a dark Dahlia. Her eyes flashing white in contrast to Dahlia’s black. Dahlia’s madness evident in the infectious girlish laugh that echoed now in the bathhouse. An insane tone of voice sounding out as Dahlia blocked Amina’s attacks quickly with one hand behind her back.

Zinnia went to Amina’s aid. Dahlia only needed to raise a hand to summon her sister's weapon quickly from her. The sword shook in Zinnia’s grasp as Dahlia then effortlessly confiscated the sharp blade from her sibling. Zinnia looked down wide eyed at her empty palm. Jago ducked just in time as the blade flew to its master. It soared through the air like a ghostly apparition.

Dahlia snatched the weapon from the air. She twirled both swords impressively before suddenly adopting an attack stance. Her three siblings readied to defend themselves.

The sound of a leaky faucet the was the only noise filling this dangerous space now.

_“Shiiing!”_

Dahlia swung for Amina first, slicing sideways at Zinnia as the Alpha attempted to blindside her powerful sister. Both girls were easily thrown to the ground. Dahlia cartwheeled over their fallen bodies, then charged at an ill-prepared Jago. The last thing the boy remembered was his sister’s fist contacting with his jaw, his back now pressed against the floor as he stared up at the ceiling above.

Amina was the first to scramble to her feet. She and Dahlia right back at it. Metallic chimes ringing out as the two siblings brought their swords together. Luna’s passed on powers burning white and bright still in Amina eyes.

Jago attempted to find his nerve. His jaw trembled as he dragged himself up off the ground again. He let out a determined roar as he ran at Dahlia.

In the dying light of the day. Dahlia danced beautifully between her three attacking siblings. Not one of them able to lay a hand on her. Lexa’s powers, Lexa’s skill, Clarke strength and aggression, all knitted together in one girl's flesh and bones.

Jago saw everything in slow motion.

Dahlia’s head tilting backwards, her elegant neck on display as she arched her back, dipping out of the way of a swinging length of steel. She spun with precision, her feet together and she swirled around. Like a great ballet performance, each of Dahlia's movements were accurate and precise. She evaded each attempt at assault on her body with the strict disciple of a Prima ballerina. Jago noted how the girl’s eyes were closed, she didn’t need to see her attackers, only feel their presence and hear their movement. She was taught by the best after all.

All three siblings struggled to find purchase. Their bodies are taken to ground repeatedly. Dahlia now stood with perfect poise. One hand arrogantly behind her back still. She looked down at her felled siblings. Zinnia coughed, her back had hit the ground far too many times. She rolled on one side, noticing Jago also attempting to lift his beaten-up body from the earth. Amina also was slowly sitting herself up. She seemed dazed as Dahlia’s last punch still rocked her senses.

Dahlia paraded over her felled siblings. Her voice calm and collected as strolled towards them.

 _“Mother’s reign is coming to an end I assure you.”_ Dahlia glared down upon her three defeated siblings.

Dahlia suddenly felt two strong Alpha arms around her chest. From behind, Ally had managed to creep up on a vicious dark Dahlia.

Dark Dahlia fought wildly to free herself from Ally’s firm hold.

 _“Hold her down!”_ Jago instructed.

Zinnia and Amina dashed to aid Ally.

Dahlia kicked out. She writhed on the earth. Desperate to free herself from her sibling's collective strength.

Zinnia pushed a powerful palm into her sister's chest as she bucked upwards. Amina sat on Dahlia’s flailing her legs. The girl screamed on the floor like a wild banshee.

 _“Get off me, mongrels!”_ Dahlia’s deranged laugh filled Amina’s ears.

 _“Here, swap places with me, I have an idea.”_ Ally ordered.

Dahlia watched on helplessly as her brother swapped places with Ally.

The brave Azgeda made the mistake of locking eyes with a seething dark Dahlia.

 _“Hey, baby.”_ Dahlia teased.

 _“Ignore whatever she says.”_ Zinnia warned Ally as Dahlia continued to fight for freedom.

Dahlia hummed out her pleasure as she goaded Ally.

 _“She sits in that library soaking wet. She’s just waiting for you to pull her dress up over her hips. You know?... the pretty white one that you like so much.”_ Dark Dahlia winked.

Zinnia set her frown in Ally’s direction.

Ally ignored the crude comments on Dahlia's light side.

 _“Ha! You want to fuck her, and she knows it.”_ Dark Dahlia laughed.

Zinnia snarled at Ally.

Ally looked across at the overly protective Zinnia.

 _“You have just warned me not to listen to her. Why on earth are you?”_ Ally tutted.

Zinnia looked down upon her struggling sister.

  _“What are the pillars of the Natblida?”_ That was Ally’s response to a hurtful dark Dahlia.

 _“Oh please! You don’t believe my mother’s witchcraft works on me!”_ Dahlia sniggered.

 _“What are the pillars of the Natblida?”_ Ally raised her voice.

Amina and the blonde triplets fought to hold a maddening Dark Dahlia in place. She twisted her head from side to side. She bit her bottom lip to the point Zinnia smelt Lexa’s familiar honey scent bleed from Dahlia’s soft skin.

 _“What are the pillars of the Natblida!”_ Ally recited.

Wisdom...stre...” Dahlia suddenly responded.

_“Again!”_

_“Arggh!_ _Wisdom strength...”_

“One last time, Dahlia-kom-trikru.” Ally testified.

Amina placed a hand on her sister's chest. Luna’s light power began to soak into hot, hostile flesh. Zinnia loosened her grip as she saw green eyes start to peep out from teary lids. Amina finally started to see that Luna’s light was what was needed all along, not combat.

 _“Wisdom-strength-truth”_ Dahlia recited clearly.

 _“Come on Dar, fight her off!”_ Zinnia encouraged her sister's light side to reach the surface.

Dahlia sat up suddenly. Causing Amina to instantly raise a clenched fist in defence.

A light Dahlia squinted her eyes. Looking at the bare bloody knuckles inches from her face. Amina saw the complete disassociation with her dark sides action in Dahlia’s eyes. Amina lowered her fists slowly. She reached out and gently moved a strand of hair from her haunted sisters face. Luna’s gift fizzled inside Amina's veins. Amina saw no sign of darkness, only a lost little girl.

 _“You are the answer.”_ Dahlia mumbled as she looked up at Amina.

 _“The answer to what?”_ Amina whispered back.

 _“Are you ok, sister.”_ Dahlia heard her brother soft voice from behind.

Dahlia’s felt tears build. Her sister's face was swollen and red. A perfect punch mark bruising her skin like a fresh fruit too tightly gripped.

Amina attempted to tilt her face to one side to hide from Dahlia’s view. She felt Dahlia’s fingers at her Jaw though, slowly turning her face back to her.

 _“I…i did this?”_ Dahlia's voice was small.

 _“No... not you. Not the real you at least.”_ Zinnia interrupted.

Dahlia scanned the room. Jago was now supporting her from behind as Amina still sat on her legs.

Dahlia spied the guard completely unconscious. Dahlia feared at first he was dead.

 _“What have I done?”_ The girl's voice was small and broken.

 _“It will be ok Dahlia. I promise”_ Jago hugged his stunned sister from behind.

The sound of heavy footsteps emanated from beyond the door

Dahlia looked briskly beyond the bathhouse.

 _“Sire approaches.”_ Dahlia’s senses were still much stronger than her siblings, even in this exhausted state. She knew exactly who it was that would soon demand entry to the bath hall.

_“Bang! bang!”_

_“Zinnia! Open this door right now!”_ Clarke’s muffled demands sounded out beyond the locked door.

Ally came into Dahlia’s view.

 _“Oh my Goodness, Ally. I never wanted you to see me this way.”_ Dahlia spoke softly.

 _“It’s ok, princess.”_ Ally smiled back.

Dahlia bursts into tears. Her hands shaking as they covered her face. Amina took pity. Pulling her older sister into a tight embrace, Dahlia took comfort in her blood sister protective embrace.

 _“I am a monster, not a princess.”_ Dahlia whispered into Amina’s warm chest.

 _“Amina! Open this door!”_ Now Luna’s voice called out from the corridor outside.

Amina looked across the room to the thick wooden barrier.

 _“Sire will tear the door down soon enough.”_ Jago sighed

 _“Get her out of here!”_ Zinnia instructed Ally.

 _“I will!”_ The odd pup nodded.

Dahlia still sobbed. The dark energy that took hold of her lights control drained the colour from her face, and the strength from her legs.”

Ally stood over a cuddling Amina and Dahlia.”

 _“Can you stand, Princess?_ ” Ally asked.

 _“Don’t call me that. Please.”_ Dahlia croaked.

Dahlia sniffled as she brought her head out from her sister's comforting chest. Amina held her sister at arm’s length. She ran one last-minute check to ensure the dark shade that had visited Dahlia’s being had taken its leave.

 _“I ...don’t know if I can stand.”_ Dahlia sighed.

_“Boom!”_

Clarke now forced the door.

 _“Quickly.”_ Zinnia pointed at Dahlia.

Ally helped the girl to her feet. Dahlia's legs wobbled. Ally wasted no more time. She held her arm in invitation. Dahlia nodded giving Ally permission to carry her. Before she knew it, she was safely held in Ally’s arms. Her long legs dangling out over Ally’s muscular forearm. Dahlia hooked her arms around Ally’s neck. She allowed herself to look into ice blue eyes.

Ally focused on those bright, fresh green eyes.

 _“How can I not think you a princess? No matter how you alter.”_ Ally breathed in sharply.

Dahlia flushed with tears again, her head resting in the crook of Ally’s neck. She wished to stay this way forever. Shielded from the world, protected by her only friend.”

The door bowed inward, one more strike and Clarke would smash it down.

_“Go! There is a secret corridor behi...”_

_“I know this place Zinnia. I was a child here myself when you were just a pup.”_ Ally flashed a grin.

Ally turned to flee with a weak Dahlia.”

 _“Wait!”_ Zinnia shouted.

 _“Yes?”_ Ally waited

_“Look after her. I will come find you, Thank you...Ally.”_

Ally looked down upon a now passed out Dahlia.

_“She will be safe with me.”_

At that...Ally fled with her broken princess in her arms.

The groggy guard finally stirred. Zinnia grabbed at his collar with both hands.

 _“Now! You saw nothing!”_ Zinnia’s face morphed.

 _“I will not lie to my Prime.”_ The guard attempted to remain brave.

Zinnia jostled him violently.

 _“You! You are the reason she lost it to start with! How about I tell my mother that!”_ Zinnia threated.

The guard deliberated.

_“Don’t forget! One day...I will be the Prime of this pack. I will not forget this day quickly or your part in it!”_

_“This fight was between Jago and me?”_ Zinnia stated.

Amina appeared in the background. Her arms folded and her scowl saved for the young guard.

 _“As you wish.”_ The guard agreed to hold his tongue.

 “This will not work.” Jago shook his head as his sire almost took the door off its hinges.

_“It has to. She has done so well for so long. I will not have this day ruin all the good ones that came before.”_

Jago lowered his head.

 _“Mother needs to know that she has had an episode.”_ Jago whispered.

 _“Jago, please. Do we not keep your secret from Mother?”_ Zinnia pleaded.

Jago looked up to the heavens. Letting out a great sigh.

 _“Ok.”_ He nodded.

Finally, the door smashed open. An infuriated Clarke stormed in, followed by a concerned looking Luna. The scene that’s greeted both parents was one of chaos.

Clarke spotted the guard in Zinnia’s grasp first. Then her eyes fell to a beaten up Jago and Amina.

 _“What the hell is this?”_ Clarke snarled at Zinnia.

 _“Amina!”_ Luna gathered up her baby.

Zinnia dropped the guard. She turned to face her approaching sire.

 _“This better be damn good, Zinnia!”_ Clarke growled.

Zinnia faked her best awkward teen stance. Her arms quickly folded, she looked at Clarke as if she were bored by her presence. Zinnia would risk any kind of punishment to protect Dahlia.

 _“Zinnia! What have you done now?”_ Clarke looked to her rebellious pup for an explanation.

Zinnia remained silent.

 _“Fine…clearly you would rather explain yourself to your Mother than me...”_ Clarke shrugged.

Zinnia swallowed.

 _“Mom’s not here?”_ Zinnia unfolded her arms, warily. She scanned the room nervously for Lexa.

 _“Your Mother will get home tomorrow.”_ Clarke announced.

Zinnia paled. All three siblings took a deep breath. Lexa would in no way be as easy to placate as Clarke and Luna.

 _“One last time Zinnia, what the hell is going on?”_ Clarke demanded.

 

 

 

 


	13. Underneath the stars

 

 

_“Here beneath the stars I'm mending_ _. Here beneath the stars not ending. Why on earth am I pretending? I’m here again, the stars befriending. They come and go of their own free will" …_ _D_

* * *

 

Upon a leafy forest floor, Dahlia awoke to transitory brightness. The unsettling, intense light diffused like watercolour, as keen eyes began to focus on unfamiliar surroundings.

The feeling of heavy limbs and throbbing temples - for most, that was a sure sign of the morning after. It was not the poisoning effect of excess alcohol that polluted the girl's blood though. Dahlia’s hangover was much more genetic in origin. Unfortunately, this torrid grogginess was the typical consequence of allowing her Natblida DNA to take over her system.

 Lexa had warned her daughter of the sick feeling that would grow within her guts; the cracked lips and dry, bitter tasting pallet that would remain, long after the darkness had taken its leave.

As soft fingertips rubbed tender, tired eyes. Smudged circles of burning orange light seemed to gather in the night's sky above. Dahlia squinted her eyes, her brow furrowed and drawn in confusion. What the hell was she looking at?

Lanterns… countless glowing lanterns! They hung strategically from the tree branches above, clustered together in patches. They offered more light to certain areas than others. Dahlia sniffed the cold night air. The scent wafting on the breeze from the lamp lights was not unpleasant by any means. In fact, the calming scent of lavender and honey seeped from each rusty antique.

That honey smell nourished Dahlia’s inner light. She gently closed her eyes as her mother's voice filled her thoughts. Memories surfaced of being cradled by soft, warm flesh that was marinated in that wonderful scent. Those tender moments ran like grainy film through the young Queen’s mind.  She didn’t notice it herself, but Dahlia’s own flesh smelt exactly the same as her famous mother’s.

As the memory of Lexa’s maternal touch subsided, another scent caught the exceptional girl’s nose. It was an aroma that had started to offer an equal amount of comfort as her mother’s.

… _Ally_

Dahlia quickly searched the four corners of the forest nook. Only now did she begin to fully take in her surroundings. No sign of her friend. Such a strong scent meant Ally could not be too far away though. Dahlia looked down at her partially covered body. As she slowly sat up, Ally’s jacket fell from her form, no longer offering the warmth it had.

 Dahlia shivered. Hurriedly, she slipped Ally’s thick hunting jacket over her shoulders. The pretty girl absentmindedly sniffed at the fur collar, inhaling her odd friend’s Azgeda scent.

The tall, elegant girl began to meander freely about this hidden patch of forest. The thick carpet of forest debris beneath Dahlia’s feet sounded out a delightful crunch.

Dahlia smiled as she took in her locality. This place was straight out a fairy tale. An Aladdin’s cave scattered with trinkets and half-finished gadgets. The collection intrigued the dark-haired girl greatly.

Dahlia’s right hand clutched at the top button of the warm jacket. She brought the material together tightly as she sought to keep out the cold winter air. With her free hand, Dahlia picked up a half-finished block of carved wood. Even in its incomplete state, Dahlia could make out the stiff back and sturdy legs of a wolf. Her smile widened as more carefully crafted wooden toys, and ornaments came into view. Ally’s forest hideout was not unlike a festive polar grotto. For a fleeting moment, Dahlia understood what it must feel like to be an ordinary child. She felt so bewitched by this beautiful space.

 Heda’s first born kept her eyes fixed on the wooden wolf as she cleared her throat to speak.

_“Do you intend on staring at me from afar all evening? Or will you come out from behind that old oak at some point?”_

Ally’s lupine eyes reflected the soft light as she stepped out from the shadows

_“You’re not meant to be able to see me. Nobody ever sees me when I hide.”_ Ally looked upon the gifted Dahlia in amazement.

Dahlia turned slowly to face her sneaky friend. A lift of an eyebrow and faint smirk accompanied her raspy tone as she replied.

_“Well. In combat, no one should be able to grab me from behind. Perhaps that makes us even.”_ Dahlia smiled kindly.

Silence ensued.

_“Thank you for that by the way,”_ Dahlia added.

_“For subduing you?”_ Ally enquired.

_“No... Thank you for surprising me. Nobody ever manages that either.”_ Dahlia blushed.

_“I was afraid you might get injured.”_ Ally sighed. Still halfway hidden behind her oak tree.

_“Me? Get injured?”_ Dahlia placed a hand over her heart.

Ally nodded shyly.

Dahlia let a short laugh escape her lips. After everything Ally had seen, she still thought of nothing but Dahlia’s safety.

Dahlia bit her bottom lip to pin down a growing smile.

_“You made these?”_ The Natblida gestured towards the collection of sculptured animals.

_“I did. I scatter them about this forest.”_

_“For what reason?”_ Dahlia asked.

_“For company.”_ Ally whispered her response as she plunged her hands into deep pockets. She focused on the ground, sheepishly.

_“I see.”_ Dahlia softly replied.

Dahlia ran her eyes over the lonesome pup. She hoped to have coaxed her awkward Ally out from her hiding place by now.

_“Do you like that one?”_ Ally pointed to the wolf in Dahlia’s grasp.

The troubled girl glanced down at the block of wood in her hand.

_“I do. I intend on stealing it from you.”_ Dahlia winked at Ally.

_“But, it's not finished.”_ Ally peeped out further from her oak tree.

Dahlia smiled radiantly at the stricken Ally.

_“That is why I wish to have it. I like the fact that its fate is undecided.”_ Dahlia held up the wooden wolf to scrutinise it further.

Ally remained silent. Dahlia’s dark hair seemed to cascade downwards endlessly. Her enticing pearly white smile and high cheekbones left Ally with nothing but warmth in her heart. Dahlia’s green iris’s temptingly cut through the sunburst orange lamp light. Those siren eyes steadily drew Ally out from her place of safety. If Dahlia meant Ally harm, the Azgeda was now extremely vulnerable and exposed.

The young Nightblood looked upwards. Her attention taken by the fluttering wings of a large black moth. It wandered drunk and aimlessly around each lantern.

_“Octavia is terrified of them. She will scream and leave the room if one enters the house. My sire must retrieve it, otherwise she will not re-enter.”_ Ally pointed at the harmless insect.

_“What a thing to be so afraid of. They’re such beautiful creatures. They live for such a short time, yet spend every moment seeking nothing but the light. I admire them greatly.”_ Dahlia smiled.

_“I think you’re very beautiful, Dahlia.”_ Ally suddenly confessed.

Dahlia’s smile faded fast.

_“Might I suggest you look deeper, friend.”_ Dahlia’s expression settled into her mother's famed stoic gaze.

_“I always do.”_ Ally whispered back her reply.

_“Then you’re doomed… if you still choose to gaze upon me as you do right now.”_ Dahlia held Ally’s love-struck eyes. However, an equally cupid struck Omega stalked carefully towards the odd Alpha.

As she approached, Dahlia noticed a small wooden cross hung loosely around Ally’s neck. The ice pup froze on the spot, as she felt Dahlia’s fingertips graze her skin, retrieving the accessory from within her open shirt.

Ally breathed in heavily as Dahlia now stood centimetres from her. Dahlia focused her eyes on the simple jewellery.

_“Do not place your faith in such trinkets of deceit.”_ Dahlia recited.

Ally felt every fine hair on her body stand on end. The scent of honey intensified significantly. Ally’s eyes dropped quickly to Dahlia’s wrist. The Azgeda swore she heard the skin tear as Dahlia’s infectious plasma sought to claim her. Ally’s hand trembled as it gravitated up towards the delectable dessert that was Dahlia’s blood. Dahlia narrowed her eyes as Ally seemed totally disarmed before her. The Natblida glanced down towards Ally’s wandering hand, she suddenly noted her own ichor defying physics, as it flowed upwards from a gaping fissure.

_“What are you doing?”_ Dahlia snatched her hand away smarty. The blood retreated and Dahlia quickly readjusted her leather cuffs, pulling the fastener much tighter than before.

Ally shook the narcotized daze from her mind.

_“I would urge more caution. Control yourself, please!”_ Dahlia gave a stern warning.

_“Why?”_ Ally asked, Dahlia’s scent still polluting her mind.

Dahlia closed the gap between herself and the willing Ally.

_“Because next time... I fear I will not hold back. I…I will infect you..”_ Dahlia whispered her warning.

_“You already have.”_ Ally smiled as she brought her lips towards Dahlia’s.

//“ _Dahlia_!” //

A remote call in the night interrupted the pair just as they drew closer together. They parted swiftly, like two dancers about to take the stage, only to find their music abruptly stopped. Ally glanced towards the thick line of trees and impenetrable walls of bramble. Her whimsical nook was just as fortress-like as it was an enchanting lair.

_“It’s Zinnia…. she won't find this place.”_ Ally bragged.

Dahlia let out a sigh. Zinnia would trudge through the woods all night if necessary. Dahlia did not wish to leave this place though. This secret garden with its glorious heavenly lamp light and hidden treasures, it soothed her soul and calmed her nerve.

Ally headed towards the sound of Zinnia’s concerned voice.

_“Ally, wait!”_ Dahlia softly commanded.

Ally obeyed, coming to an immediate halt, just as her Dark Princess wished.

_“Did she offer you cruelty? Was she crude?  Did she speak out of turn?”_ Dahlia nervously babbled out her line of questions.

_“Whom do you speak of?”_ Ally innocently asked.

_“Her!”_ Dahlia held a hand to her chest.

Ally thought carefully.

_“Dare I ask what she said to you?”_ Dahlia covered her ears, afraid of Ally’s response. Her cheeks now flushed ruby red as embarrassment took over.

Ally gathered up her effects. Passing a hip flask filled with nothing but water for the teetotal Dahlia.

_“I did not pay attention to anything that your alter ego might have said.”_ Ally saved Dahlia from hearing her dark sides observations.

Dahlia let out a breath. She was relieved that Ally had seemingly deleted anything overtly sexual her darker self may have let slip.

_“Does she speak with honesty though? Your darker self?”_ Ally kept her back turned from Dahlia as she packed her satchel.

Dahlia paused. Her eyebrows arching higher at the direct question.

_“She is vicious, cruel and extremely dangerous. She is not a liar though.”_ Dahlia confirmed.

_“Then your darker self’s presence maybe most unsettling, but her words spoke the truth.”_

Dahlia warily took a drink from Ally’s flask.

_“I do very much appreciate the cut of that white dress.”_ Ally nodded to herself as she strolled away.

Dahlia coughed violently as she spat out a mouthful of water. She stood open mouthed as Ally disappeared into the brambles.

_“Come, Dahlia-kom-trikru. We must find your academically limited sibling.”_ Ally's voice faded as she exited the secret den.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	14. No place like home

 

 

_“I'm coming home, I'm coming home to you. I’m alive, I’m a mess. I can't wait to get home to you, to get warm, warm and undressed.” …_

 

* * *

 

 

For the third time in the last ten minutes, Luna fixed her hair.

Gathering up generous handfuls of wild Amazon locks. She scrunched and ruffled the untamable curls. The rebellious flou-girl went to great effort in making herself look entirely edible for her returning Queen.

_“They’re all hiding something from us. You do realise that?”_

 Luna called out to Clarke as she heard the Prime enter the great hall. Still pruning herself in the mirror, Luna awaited Clarke’s reply.

Quizzing all three siblings had been met with an impenetrable wall of silence. The same explanation over and over – Zinnia started it. Jago retaliated. Amina found herself caught up in the middle. The fights origin?...Zinnia goaded by Jago’s insult’s that had gone too far. As for the guard, well...he just got in Zinnia’s way.

 _“Of course they’re hiding something. They’re teenagers!”_ Clarke glanced at Luna as she headed towards the warm fire.

 _“You look amazing by the way.”_ Clarke added as she passed by.

Luna felt her bottom lip wobble. She waited several seconds before responding to a fire transfixed Clarke.

 _“Amina is lying to me. She never lies to me, Klark.”_ Luna’s voice betrayed her upset as she fought off tears.

Clarke looked up sharply from the roaring heat. Her shadow taking up most of the wall beyond her. It stood tall and magnificent, stretching upwards towards the high ceilings of the dining hall. Luna half smiled at the shadow as it flickered within the fire light, it momentarily resembled the mighty beast that resided within her lover.

 _“Hey..come over here.”_ Clarke’s tone was soft.

Luna’s heart was so heavy, it seemed to cause her to walk slower than usual.

Clarke pulled the heartbroken mother into a gentle hug. Her lips quickly finding Luna’s cheek. The ferocious Skai-beast left a comforting kiss on the soft, plump flesh.

Luna allowed herself to sink into the hard protective body on offer. Her fingers slid up Clarke’s back, then wrapped firmly around her strong shoulders.Clarke's arms enveloped Luna like a great shroud. Protect an Omega, that was so instinctive to the prime still.

The two stood for several seconds. Luna eventually loosening her hold on Clarke.

 _“Why would she lie to me?”_ Luna lowered her head.

Strong fingertips found Luna’s chin. The Prime lifted Luna’s face gently so that their eyes could meet. Clarke’s low, gravelly voice sought to comfort a wounded Luna.

 _“Like I said. They might be the product of superheroes…but they’re still dumb teenagers. Maybe it’s a good thing they are showing a united front. They will need that in the future when we’re old, grey and hopefully retired!”_ Clarke smiled warmly at Luna.

 _“Dahlia was there.”_ Luna suddenly stated.

Luna felt Clarke tense up.

 _“If I caught her scent, you most definitely did.”_ Luna kept her eyes on Clarke’s.

 _“She was there. I know that.”_ Clarke slipped free from Luna’s light hold.

 _“And?”_ Luna stood with her hands on her hips.

Clarke allowed herself to think.

_“She…she probably got sick of trying to calm Zinnia. She most likely just left them to it.”_

_“Through a secret exit!”_ Luna shook her head at Clarke, then released a great sigh.

 _“What?”_ Clarke looked upon Luna with a puzzled expression.

_“Maybe she started the fight, Klark?”_

_“Ha!”_ Clarke laughed at Luna in disbelief.

 _“She is no angel, Klark.”_ Luna accused.

 _“No…but she isn’t violent either. She’s so intelligent, so creative, so well read. She’s gonna make one hell of a Queen.”_ Clarke proudly smiled to herself.

Luna rolled her eyes. Clarke was so blinded. Truly it was as if Dahlia walked on water. Clarke would see no wrong in her special little girl.

 _“Luna…it wasn’t Dahlia. She wouldn’t start any kind of fight.”_ Clarke frowned.

 _“No... no of course not. I’m sure she was just writing a sonnet with one hand, while painting a great Renaissance piece of art with the other. All as she masterfully played the piano with her toes! The thought of her lifting a sword, now that’s ridiculous! She is only Lexa’s daughter after all.”_ Luna’s tone was utterly sarcastic as she lowered herself into a chair.

 _“Don’t get bitchy like that. I’m just as frustrated as you by all this. It’s not the homecoming I want for Lexa.”_ Clarke poured herself and Luna a glass of wine.

 _“When do we tell Leksa of the fight?”_ Luna asked an edgy Clarke.

The Prime swallowed her beverage with a loud gulp. The wine that had gathered in her mouth now tainted the back of her throat with a vinegary tang. The Alpha felt a satisfying warm rush as the fermented fruit settled happily in her belly.

 _“After dinner... we will tell her after dinner.”_ There was very little commitment in Clarke’s tone as she strolled over to Luna.

Luna nodded, then reached forward to take her wine glass from Clarke’s hand.

The tense Omega lifted the delicate flute, pinching the long-thin-stem between her thumb and index finger. The dark liquid tilted towards the rim as she almost took a sip. Luna paused though, teasing the edge of the glass with nothing but a graze of her lips.

The soulful Omega slouched back in her chair. A bare, toned thigh slipping free from her dress, as she carelessly hooked a leg over the armrest. Luna stared back at Clarke. Her full wine glass now hung loosely in her hand.

 _“After dinner… you think?”_ Now it was Luna that deliberated.

The prime let out a frustrated sigh. Luna’s inner thigh and potential lack of underwear were now a terrible distraction.

 _“You want to talk to her tomorrow morning instead?”_ Clarke forced her eyes upwards.

 _“Is it awful if I say, yes?”_ Luna smiled.

The beast did not answer immediately. Instead, Clarke poured the rest of the wine into her glass. Finishing what remained within the sturdy clay urn.

 _“Honestly…I was thinking the same thing.”_ Clarke blushed as she sat down next to Luna.

Luna sat forwards. Resting her chin against her palm. Her knuckles reached upwards to hide her growing mischievous smile. Her eyes gave her playfulness away to Clarke though.

Clarke looked down at the floor as she responded.

 _“Lexa has been away for almost a month. I was hoping for a nice dinner tonight and then…”_ Clarke trailed off.

 _“And then dessert?”_ Luna wiggled her eyebrows at Clarke.

Clarke struggled not to smile back.

 _“Yes…dessert.”_ The Alpha attempted to reign in her excitement over the thought of finally reconnecting with Lexa. Connecting in a way that only she and Luna were permitted.

The fight between the pups had been significant though. That was evident. A seriously injured guard and all three siblings badly bruised. Clarke needed desperately to believe that it was nothing more than a skirmish. A quarrel or usual squabbling amongst siblings that were incredibly close. Why bother Lexa with something so non-consequential? Why have her homecoming met with negativity when the pups themselves seemed fine?

For Luna, it had been a painfully long month without Lexa’s touch. A month without her blood and body inside her own. Luna battled the same inner conflict as Clarke. Telling Lexa of the altercation the pups found themselves in would not lead towards the night of passion either of them hoped for.

Luna suddenly felt guilt creep up behind her arousal and strangle it violently.

 _“Are we not putting our libidos before doing the right thing though?”_ Luna worried her lip.

Clarke’s boot reached out for Luna’s bare foot. The Omega smiled back as her naked toe caressed the side of Clarke’s brutish footwear. That soft feminine toe tip travelled tenderly up the back of Clarke’s calf.

 _“I think it will be okay. What difference will a few hours make?”_ Clarke’s eyes darkened.

 _“I have missed her so much Klark.”_ Luna sighed.

_“Me too. I’m not even sure I will make it through this dinner.”_

Luna grinned, then slid a fingertip across the Grand Oak table top. Abandoning her previous feelings of guilt, Luna leant forward and beckoned Clarke’s ear closer.

Clarke closed her eyes as Luna’s bassy tone loitered in her ear.

_“Would you like to have us both upon this table top, Skai-girl?”_

Clarke could only grunt back her response as her blood travelled south.

Luna silently slid a knife from the table surface, making the perfectly domestic dinner table look uneven. The Omega kept her shared Alpha at heel though. A gentle tickle of breath hovering lightly around Clarke’s ear lobe.

 _“Do you know how long it took me to prepare this dining table, Alpha?”_ Luna’s voice was breathy, as she pointed the utensil at the smirking beast before her.

 _“Always so dutiful.”_ Clarke leant in closer to a teasing Luna.

 _“I’m only this domestic for the two of you.”_ Luna purred as her lips edged closer to Clarke’s.

At that,…the grand dining hall doors swung open. Forcing the flirting pair to stand, quickly.

Lexa’s elite personal guard strode through the doors first. Their attire clad with Heda’s crest. The masks upon their faces appeared to be that of the living dead, skeletal and otherworldly. Their march was choreographed and uniform. Not one guard missed a step as they paraded in perfect militarised precision. Such a glorious sound filled the hall, as their collective boots snapped together on the spot.They stood as rigidly as statues, coming to attention for their royal commander.

The fine hair upon Luna’s neck stood on end, as a familiar, authoritative footfall, echoed beyond the doorway.

A guard from each side held the grand doors open for their approaching Queen. Clarke stood a little taller as she awaited Lexa’s grand entrance. Those familiar footsteps were getting closer and closer. Clarke’s heartbeat matched every single leather clad step.

 The object of both Luna and Clarke’s affections…she was now only meters away.

Luna couldn’t help but fuss with the dining table one last time. Replacing the knife and ensuring everything looked perfect for her sovereign. The Wild Flou-girl swallowed audibly, glancing at an equally nervous Clarke.

That honey scent caught the beast's nose - as Lexa Smoothly floated into the room.

Full of nothing but lithe limb and graceful stance. The Queen kept her proper manner in the presence of her loyal men. Luna and Clarke remained speechless. Between the two of them, neither could find themselves able to conjure up even a simple greeting. Clarke was sure Luna had not released her breath for the last minute at least.

The rebellious Flou-girl was forever astounded by the effect Lexa still had on her. Her palms began to sweat, and the most basic grammar left her brain. Her pulse quickened as those green eyes flashed over willing flesh. How was this possible? After all these years - Lexa so effortlessly made the powerful Luna feel like a babbling teenage girl all over again. Luna was nothing but clumsy and awkward in Lexa’s presence. It was as if she were laying eyes on this beautiful woman for the very first time. The free-spirited girl’s breath hitched in her throat. All Lexa had done up to this point… was walk into the room.

Clarke quite simply was in awe of Lexa.

Thirty-eight years of age yet still, she looked just as stunning and fresh-faced as the day they met.

Well, perhaps not quite the same. There was the faintest betraying evidence that Lexa was no longer a nineteen-year-old girl. The odd line by her eyes. The slightest of creases by her mouth as she smiled or curled a lip.  These features only bore testament to how many times the queen felt happiness in her time with Clarke. The slight wrinkles and odd grey hairs were a small price to pay. Clarke, Luna and the threesomes extended family and friends, they had brought nothing but joy to Heda’s heart over the years. Lexa had been blessed with much love and loyalty. This was undoubtedly the most potent weapon in combatting a seductive genetic calling. A calling that desperately wanted any Natblida Queen - to be nothing short of wicked.

It was in no way an easy road though. The twists and turns of finally ascending to the leader she wanted to be, that had been a long journey. To fight the darkness within. To control her urges. To shake the mark her mother’s blood left upon her soul. All these years and Lexa still felt Jasmin’s will creep in. An overreaction, A flare in temper that morphed into a blind rage. The need to corrupt and infect still ambled around within the depth of her being. Without Luna, without her flesh still serving as a sponge for all of Lexa’s complicated wants and desires. Without Clarke’s constant love and affection, Lexa feared what she would have become?

The necessity of transferring blood into another’s veins had not diminished as the Queen grew older. Lexa was still just as vampiric in nature as ever. Luna still served as counsel to Lexa. She still acted as a great reliever too. Lexa’s blood still soaked into her friend's skin so euphorically, so perfectly. Luna felt Lexa’s power ebb and flow through her veins so addictively still. Lexa’s evolved blood brought nothing but satisfaction to Luna, as her body succumbed to the torrent of pleasure, bringing her to orgasm quickly and without apology.

 

Luna snapped out of her daze as Lexa’s voice filled the room. Giving her instruction for her guard to stand down and take their leave.

Lexa nodded to her demon faced guards. Her authority over them never in question. They loved their Queen, would die for their Queen. Each of the men held a clenched fist over their heart as they filed past.

 _“Praise Heda!”_ The men shouted.

Finally…the three lovers were alone.

Lexa’s tall frame was clad in her usual Heda attire. Her upper body remained covered though, under the weight of an enormous black fur. Luna eyed the garment curiously. The Flou-girl cleared her dry throat.

 _“A gift from the Ice nation council, I assume?”_ Luna pointed at the thick fur. Finally summoning the courage to speak to Lexa.

Lexa smiled gloriously at Luna. That damn smile, it Stopped both lovers heart beats instantly.

Lexa dusted off the snowflakes that remained frozen and nestled within the once proud animal fur. The commander lifted her long delicate fingers to the fastener by her throat, struggling for a moment to free herself from its tight grasp.

 _“Let me!”_ Luna and Clarke hollered at the same time.

Both rushed over to their love. Clarke got to Lexa first, then attempted to release the clasp. Her hand bumped into Lexa’s as she fiddled with the tie. Clarke felt a jolt of pure energy. It started at her fingertip, shooting down the Alpha’s fingers before enveloping her palm and lingering in the pulse point by her wrist. Still, Lexa could bring Clarke to heel or send her to war with the simplest of touches.

Luna caught the magnificent fur as it fell. Gathering the garment up in her arms. Lexa straightened her Pauldron - then let her eyes fall to her two attentive lovers.

 _“I have missed you both so terribly.”_ The Queen announced.

Lexa gestured for her heart and soul to embrace her. One lover either side as Lexa felt the brow of both Luna and Clarke meet with her own. The three stood in a pleasant silence. The smell of her lover’s skin and the collective heat of their flesh served as a great comfort immediately.

 _“We have missed you too, your majesty,”_ Luna whispered.

Clarke somehow managed to peel herself away, she wandered over towards the dining table.

 _“What is all this?”_ Lexa gestured to the inviting looking spread.

 _“It’s a meal fit for a Queen.”_ Clarke declared, as she pulled out a chair for Lexa.

 

 

 


	15. Blood of me

 

 

_“For every life a light shines, to every heart a beat that's true, baby you’re my yellow summer, darling you’re my winter blue.”_

 

* * *

 

 

The food was much appreciated. Lexa having spent hours on the road back from Azgeda. The warmth of the fire was a great comfort especially. The Queen felt her bones defrost and her skin turn pink under the pleasant heat.  Both lovers sat either side their weary Queen, their chairs pulled in much closer than would be polite or practical in any other setting.

Lexa praised Luna for her efforts in preparing dinner, as Clarke carved off parts of the meaty kill and loaded it onto her Omega’s plates.

A hidden sharpness of bone took Lexa by surprise as she handled her meal. The regal brunette retracted her finger swiftly. Luna spied a pearl of black blood lift from the split skin. The addictive ichor attempted to dribble and fall down the Queens' finger. Lexa glanced at the minor wound, bringing her fingertip instantly to her own lips. Luna almost died as she watched Lexa suckle softly on the end of the digit, taking the blood into her own mouth, rather than Luna’s. Lexa felt her childhood sweethearts lust struck gaze. The Flou-girls eyes were now transfixed on her loves plasma coated pout.

Luna’s mouth dropped open as Lexa licked the remaining blood from her swollen lips. The Queen read Luna’s thoughts easily. A sly smile starting as Luna remained paralysed. Lexa was all too aware that Luna wanted _that_ blood, needed _that_ blood inside her frantically.

 _“I know what you want, Luna.”_ Lexa teased.

Luna instantly ran her eyes over the busy dining table. She imagined sweeping her arm across the wooden table top. That arm would clear the surface of obstruction, then pull the taunting Commander down upon her willing body. Their girlish mouths clashing as prey would free predator from the inconvenient presence of clothing. The Flou-girl absentmindedly parted her thighs during the fantasy, her sex on offer to her ruler whenever she wished to claim it.

Lexa rarely needed match or kindling to set Luna a blaze.

 _“Has your investigation progressed any, Klark?”_ Lexa spoke softly.

It took the prime several seconds to answer, her eyes bounced erratically between the flirting Omega.

Luna promptly flinched and locked eyes with Clarke. The Prime frowned heavily as Luna’s eyes burnt with nothing but want. Her pupils dilating like two large ink spots dropped onto thick, absorbent paper.

Lexa’s hand had landed on Luna’s knee under the table. Her thumb delicately sweeping across Luna’s skin lovingly. It was a move conducted in secret and spoke of great promise. Clarke knew the effect Lexa was having on a willing Luna. The beast smelt the excitement seeping from both her Omega, even with the presence of such rich smelling food.

 

 _“We…we’re still finding vials of the black blood. No real idea where it's coming from though.”_ Clarke seemed dazed as she responded.

 _“If you need any more resources, you need only ask.”_ The queen spoke softly.

Lexa kept her conversation with Clarke going as she fondled Luna beneath the table. The prime was now struggling to take in much detail. Luna’s chest was a massive distraction as it displayed further submission to her Queen. Luna’s nipples were erect. Her lungs worked harder to pump oxygen desperately around her sexually charged body. Clarke’s eyes locked onto Luna’s breasts. Her dress seemed to cling tighter and tighter. The Primes length grew firm, as Lexa gradually brought Luna to the boil. The Queen’s hand wandered dangerously now up Luna’s inner thigh.

 _“Klark? I asked you a question.”_ Lexa smiled. She knew full well the beast had no idea what her queen had just asked her.

Silence filled the royal dining hall. Only Luna’s painting served as the soundtrack to the homecoming meal.

Lexa bit her lip, her hand sliding further up the Flou-girl’s leg. Luna let out a desperate sob as Lexa’s bloodied fingertip threatened to molest her centre. Closer to her goal, closer to the prize.

Klark stood suddenly…her features changing as Lexa brought the room to its knees. The queen’s eyes drifted to Clarke's crotch. Clarke’s growing need to welcome her love home was now more than apparent.

 

The queen tightened her grip on her consorts inner thigh. The flou-girl was sure the grasp was so tight, Lexa would undoubtedly bruise her flesh. Luna’s head fell back as if she had been sedated, her throat now exposed and her whole body throbbing inside. Lexa turned herself slowly to face Luna, then buried her face in the crook of her neck. The Natblida bit gently at the firm flesh on offer. Lexa’s infectious bite still was a great high for Luna whenever administered.

Lexa’s soft lips traced painfully light patterns on Luna’s throat, her warm breath hovering over each tiny hair that stood to attention for the Queen of the clans.

 _“Just Bite me, Leksa. Please.”_ Luna whispered in her commander’s ear.

The queen paused, much to Luna’s upset. The Flou-girl whimpered as her leader left her hanging. Lexa’s short omega fangs only grazing Luna’s skin. Lexa turned her now black marble eyes on Clarke.  Clarke was already gripping the table surface. Lexa would pay for her teasing. Any moment now – this room would fall victim to utter chaos. Clarke was at the teetering point of mounting either girl aggressively, pushing herself inside a wet, warm, tight glove. Pounding into beautifully spread thighs that would usually wrap around the blonde’s waist, possessively. Luna would often alert the whole tower of her approaching climax. Unless Lexa subdued her.

Lexa knew herself that it was time, time to throw herself at Clarke, dragging Luna into the primes arms also. It was time to end the foreplay and give her body over to be satisfied. To allow Clarke to release inside both girls long into the night.

The mother in Lexa had one question though, one question she had to ask before she could let herself go. Before she could allow herself to become a slave to the furious heat and active chemicals that still agitated explosively between the three of them.

A thirsty Lexa’s throat was drying fast. She pulled herself away from Luna. Her words came out gravelly and strained. Her self-control now paper thin. Luna’s arousal filled her nostrils, and Clarke’s length appeared tense and visible within her pants. 

Lexa’s question was quick, direct and to the point.

 _“How are the children?”_ …

Luna’s eyes widened.

Not that question! Of all questions, not that one…not now!

Clarke froze…Luna watched Lexa’s suspicious eyebrow arch at the blonde’s delay.

 _“Klark?”_ Lexa’s grip on Luna’s thigh became loose.

Luna eyeballed Clarke. She wanted the prime to be honest with Lexa about Dahlia’s  presence…just not right now!

 _“Klark? How are the children?”_ Lexa was stern as she repeated her question.

The prime swallowed.

 _“They’re…fine.”_ The Alpha all but whispered her reply.

Luna rolled her eyes.

 _“Just…fine?”_ Lexa never blinked as she read her mate’s body language.

Lexa’s hand was now gone completely from Luna’s supple thigh. The soulful woman felt a red handprint where her lover's palm had seared her flesh.

 _“Well…there was a ruckus. You know what they’re like.”_ Clarke still struggled to make her brain and mouth sync up.

Lexa seemed to relax at the albeit clumsy response. Her hand quickly returned to Luna’s thigh. Luna felt her body engulf in flame yet again.

Lexa used her free hand to pick up her wine glass, her eyes never left Clarke’s though.

 _“Zinnia and Jago, I assume? Or perhaps Aiden and Abigail?_ Lexa smirked at the thought of her troublesome young twins fighting for their sires attention.

The Prime cleared her throat.

_“It was Zinnia, Jago, Amina and D…”_

_“Amina?!”_ Lexa’s voice lifted an octave in surprise as she cut Clarke off.

Lexa looked to Luna as soon as Amina’s name was implicated in relation to any sort of violence.

Luna allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of Lexa’s fingers massaging her inner thigh one last time. She knew in seconds, Clarke was about to bring the romantic homecoming to an abrupt end.

 _“Dahlia…Dahlia was there as well.”_ Clarke finally managed to finish her sentence.

Luna’s eyes dropped promptly to the sound of splintering glass. Lexa’s grip had tightened around her wine glass, her knuckles turning white instantly.

 _“Dahlia?”_ Lexa’s Medusa-like gaze turned Clarke to stone inside.

 _“Yes…Dahlia.”_ Clarke cleared her throat.

The Blonde grimaced as she watched Lexa down an entire glass of wine within several angered gulps.

 _“Damage report!?”_ Lexa coldly requested, as she angrily placed her cracked wine glass back on the table.

_“I don’t think Dahlia had anything to do with the fi...”_

_“Damage report!”_ Lexa repeated her instruction.

Clarke sighed.

_“Broken bones, bruising, minor lacerations. A guard took the worst of it, his spine is broken and…”_

Luna tightly closed her eyes on hearing Lexa’s chair scrape back, the Queen stood from the table, heading for the exit immediately.

 _“Lexa!”_ Clarke called after her mate.

Heda remained focused as she took furious strides towards the exit.

 _“Aleksandria, stop!”_ Luna finally stood up.

Lexa paused in the doorway, her back still turned on her lovers.

 _“Where are you going at this hour?”_ Luna pleaded.

 _“Where are the children now?”_ Lexa spoke through gritted teeth.

_“Leksa! You cannot react like this, even if Dahlia has had an altercation with her siblings.”_

Lexa turned slowly, her eyes landing on a willful Luna.

 _“An altercation?”_ She hissed.

 _“Yes, Leksa…an altercation.”_ Luna remained stubborn, folding her arms as she returned Lexa’s piercing gaze.

In the background, Clarke laughed.

 _“Dahlia is not strong enough to throw a 6ft 4 guard at a wall. For Christ sake, she’s half Zinnia’s weight! She’s not violent, she’s outstanding. People don't understand her.”_ Clarke still defended her precious dark angel.

Lexa momentarily locked eyes with Luna. The undying, unconditional love Clarke held for her first born captured both Mother’s hearts. Was there any other Alpha out there as fierce and yet so tender as Clarke Griffin? Lexa doubted it. She prayed their daughter did not betray that pure faith and affection. Such betrayal would ruin Clarke, Lexa was certain.

 _“Our daughter's blood is just as powerful as mine, you know this, Klark. She has all the same volatility as I had.”_ Lexa whispered as she idled in the doorway.

 _“I know, but she’s also just as strong willed and disciplined as you.”_ Clarke smiled at Lexa lovingly.

For a moment, Lexa was caught up in the same delusion as Clarke. How could she not, Clarke’s blue eyes entrapped Lexa’s heart so quickly.

 _“So…what is your plan now? It is almost midnight. Will you drag her home by her hand?_ ... she is almost Eighteen!” Luna broke the mated pairs trance.

 _“I will not be long, wait up for me.”_ Lexa let out a great sigh.

  _“You don’t even know where she is!”_ Luna hollered after a fleeing Lexa.

 _“Yes, she does. They always know how to find each other.”_ Clarke whispered, thinking of her cosmically connected mate and daughter.

Luna launched a bread roll in the direction of a long since gone Lexa. Collapsing in a heap in her chair, head in hands.

 _“We should have told her as soon as she sat down.”_ Luna cursed her own selfishness.

 _“Yes…we should have.”_ Clarke placed a hand on Luna’s shoulder.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	16. Teen Spirit

 

 

_“Load up on guns. Bring your friends it’s fun to lose and to pretend. She’s over bored and self-assured, oh no I know a dirty word.” …D_

 

* * *

 

 

Zinnia had all but given up hope. One last circuit around this patch of forest, then she would have to return to Jago without Dahlia. The faintest feeling of panic began to set in as her unstable sibling remained unaccounted for.

From within the dense line of trees, Ally emerged before the teen-beast.

_“Hello, Zinnia.”_

The blonde turned quickly, the voice calling her name came seemingly from nowhere.

_“Hey…Ally.”_ Zinnia struggled at first.

 Weirdo or Geek, they were her usual go to words when it came to the Azgeda. To think of her actual name took a couple seconds longer.

Dahlia emerged only moments after Ally. Her catwalk model height causing her to duck as she slipped past the final tree branch.

_“Dah!”_ Zinnia shot passed Ally.

_“Are you ok?”_ Zinnia swiftly approached.

_“Oh, my word. Your face!”_ Dahlia reached out for her sibling.

Zinnia’s left eye was artistically splashed with vibrant purple bruising. Her bottom lip split and swollen.

_“It’s the tooth you knocked out that’s bothering me more. It was one of those real good chewing teeth.”_ Zinnia smirked.

_“Forgive me.”_ Dahlia lowered her head in shame.

_“Eh, it's ok. I’ve got a few good stories lined up.”_

Dahlia raised a brow.

_“What? You don’t think I’m gonna admit to an Omega kicking my ass do you?”_

 Dahlia sighed.

_“I’m so sorry.”_

Ally watched on as the two siblings momentarily locked eyes. Dahlia looking nothing but guilty over her beat-up sister.

Feeling the need to change the subject, Zinnia presented a small backpack. She held it high in the air, donning a great smile.

_“Look…I brought you a change of clothes.”_

Dahlia’s eyes went wide with concern.

_“Don’t panic, sis …Jago picked the outfit, not me.”_

Dahlia breathed a sigh of relief.

_“Where is Jago?”_ She asked. As she took the backpack from Zinnia.

_“He’s at Trinity with Amina. Rafe and Rhiannon are there too.”_

Dahlia frowned heavily.

_“They’re too young. They should be back at the tower.”_ Dahlia slipped back into big sister mode.

_“Ha! You will be even less pleased to hear that Aiden and Abigail snuck in about an hour before they did.”_

_“Then you should have…_

_“Ah!”_

Dahlia worryingly clutched her stomach and lurched forward.

_“Dahlia!”_ Ally and Zinnia rushed over.

_“Don’t! …Don’t come any closer!”_ Dahlia held up a hand.

The Natblida stooped over. Her hands on her knees and her dark hair falling forwards. It was as if the girl were about to vomit.

Zinnia adopted a defensive posture as she witnessed Dahlia’s hands trembling. Black razor-sharp talons extended and retracted swiftly, as Dahlia fought to maintain one form. Night blood aggressively attacking Skai. It was a battle that raged within the young girl always.

_“She hasn’t gone anywhere, has she.”_ Zinnia warily ran her eyes over a slowly recovering Dahlia.

_“She never does.”_ Dahlia grimaced as she stood up straighter.

_“Come on, let's get you to Trinity.”_ Zinnia held out a supporting arm.

 

* * *

 

 

Almost twenty years on and Trinity is still the place to be. The loud, high-octane music always giving her position away within the trees, as the crescendo of young voices, called out like a homing beacon to every teen in the clans.

Inside, Amina lounged on a leather couch. Her feet rested on Jago’s lap.

_“They’re still staring at you.”_ Amina teased.

A gaggle of teenage girls sighed as they took in the handsome Jago.

_“Are they not Echo’s daughters?”_ Amina inspected the girls from a far.

_“Yes!”_ Jago grumbled.

_“They’re all very… girly.”_ Amina arched a brow.

_“Perhaps they are looking at you!”_ Jago frowned on the unwanted attention.

_“Nope! This tends to be what I reel in.”_

Amina pointed lazily towards a full pool table of muscled Alpha. All with their eyes leering directly at the curvy Omega. She waved at them daintily, only to find them all wave back in unison.

Amina and Jago quickly locked eyes. Both siblings erupted into uncontrollable laughter.

_“One of them, she is still waving at you.”_ Jago wiped tears from his eyes.

_“Of course she is.”_ Amina shrugged playfully.

_“I tell you this much, sister. I would swap all three of mine for just one of yours.”_ Jago glanced at the tattooed brutes once more.

_“Deal!”_ Amina offered Jago a hand.

Amina furrowed her brow. Over Jago’s shoulder, Echoes pack of omega daughters seemed hugely distracted.

Jago’s senses came alive, he felt both his sister’s presence as they entered through the front doors of Trinity. As Dahlia came into view, he stood respectfully - as did Amina.

_“I do not deserve such salutation.”_ Dahlia bowed to her siblings.

_“You’re right…. Dahlia, you look like shit!”_ Amina offered an alternative greeting.

Dahlia ran a hand through her hair. Her appearance was somewhat more dishevelled than usual.

_“Come, I will help you get dressed.”_ Amina smiled.

_“No. It's ok. I will manage.”_ Dahlia headed towards the restrooms

Amina watched on as her eldest sister slipped freely through the crowds.

_“How does she seem to you?”_ Zinnia asked the spiritual Amina.

_“Something still isn’t right.”_ Amina narrowed her eyes on her retreating sibling.

* * *

 

Dahlia stumbled as she entered the restroom. On going into a cubicle, her hands shook wildly as she slid the bolt into place. Locking herself securely in a stall, she finally had some privacy.

With a loud gasp of air expelled. Dahlia leant her back into the flimsy wall behind. Still, this nausea and fatigue would not take its leave.

Dropping the ruck sack, she carefully slipped open the metal clasp on her right cuff. Warily, she peeled back the thick leather strap.

Immediately, black viscous blood broke free. It lovingly wrapped itself around her forearm, travelling upwards in deadly spirals. Dahlia panted as she held her arm up for inspection. She tightly closed her lips together. Sucking them inwards and breathing in sharply through her nose. She would resist, she had to resist. That same sermon forced its way out though, no matter how bravely she battled.

_“Jus drei...”_

Dahlia’s eyes snapped open as someone had entered the restroom.

A collective sound of clipping heels, followed by female voices disturbed the volatile Dahlia.

_“Can I just say… how hot is he?” Echo’s eldest daughter Alana announced._

_“I know!…Uh! That shirt looks like it's painted on him. That body!”_

_Like three birds on a wire. Echo’s girls pruned themselves in the mirror side by side._

_“Zinnia is just as hot. Id take them both on. One in front and one behind!”_

_“Oh. My. God! you’re such a slut, Kristina.” The sisters laughed._

From within the cubicle - Dahlia struggled frantically to get her cuff back on.

After applying far too much rouge to her lips…The third sister Natalia joined in with the banter.

_“Did you guys see Dahlia though? Talk about the grunge look!”_ The girls sniggered.

On hearing her name…Dahlia paused. Her eyes closed tightly shut immediately.

_“What the hell was she even wearing?”_

Laughter again broke out.

_“Wisdom – strength – Truth.” Dahlia was now on her knees hunched over in prayer. Her wrists tucked under her armpits, as she fought off her dark side._

_“She looked like a fucking hobo.” The girls all cackled._

Dahlia steadily rose to her feet. Her eyes peeling open and revealing pitch black orbs. Her fingertips reaching for the bolted latch.

Zinnia suddenly barging into the Restroom, caused all three girls to scream.

_“What the fuck! Get out, Griffin!” Zinnia ducked as Alana threw the nearest thing to hand at her._

_“Whoa! You got your heat I see, Alana?”_

_“You wish, mutt!” Alana puckered up in the mirror._

_“That I do.” Zinnia’s eyes landed on Alana’s ass._

_“Is she in here?” Jago wandered in behind Zinnia._

_“Hiii. Jago.” All three girls sang in pitch- perfect tune._

Jago went wide eyed in fear.

_“What do you want, Dog!?” Alana folded her arms as she looked Zinnia up and down_

_“I dunno? Stick my cock in your fat ass maybe?” Zinnia shrugged._

Alana smiled back, mirthfully. Her sisters giggled at the vulgar Zinnia.

_“Yea... I meant, what are you doing in the Omega ONLY restrooms, you idiot!”_

_“Ladies, we’re only looking for Dahlia.” Jago pointed at the closed stall._

All three sisters paled as they turned to face the cubicle behind them.

_“Shit!”_ Speedily, they trotted passed the two Alpha.

Alana shoved Zinnia into a wall and out of her way.

_“Call me!”_ She secretly whispered as she barged past the smiling prime to be.

Jago was drawn to the sound of the cubicle door swinging open. As Zinnia’s eyes remained transfixed on the retreating Alana’s plump behind.

Dahlia stood with her arms folded. Zinnia’s attention was drawn back to the stall, as she heard her sister speak.

_“I beg you! May I not murder just one of them?”_ She grumbled.

_“NO!”_ Both siblings replied hurriedly _._

_“It would be exceptionally quick!”_ Dahlia promised.

_“Well done sister, their behavior is testing, to say the least.”_ Jago smiled.

_“Eh...They just need a big cock to play with.”_ Zinnia waved a tired hand.

Dahlia and Jago’s eyes rolled in tandem.

After a beat, Dahlia looked at her reflection across the restroom.

_“Hobo, indeed!”_ She snatched up the back pack

_“Tell me there are heels in this bag!”_ She snarled.

Jago retrieved an eyeliner pencil from his pocket.

_“Perhaps it's time we made use of the less violent gifts mother has passed onto you, sister.”_

_Dahlia smiled gleefully, as she pulled her favored black dress from the back pack. Her brother knew her all too well._

* * *

 

_With Lexa due back at any moment, Amina remained on pins._

_“You seem nervous.”_ Ally sat down by Amina’s side.

_“I should not have lied to my Mother. It will hurt her heart.”_ Amina looked sadly at the floor.

_“May I ask?..._ Dahlia, she seems at odds with Leksa?” Ally observed _._

_“It is a long story.”_ Amina sighed.

_Ally still stared at Amina, awaiting more of the tale._

_Amina sighed…_

_“Dahlia believes those that reside within the dead zone can be aided. My Blood mother strongly disputes that. Each time Dahlia attempts to start the debate again, my blood mother shuts her down.” Amina explained_

_“What do you think?”_ Ally asked.

_“I think there is much more to it between the two of them, as usual,”_ Amina concluded.

_………………………………………………._

Back in the restrooms.

Jago stepped back to admire his own handy work.

_“Wow…”_ He muttered to himself.

Dahlia turned to face the mirror. A sly smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.

_“Perhaps having the bone structure and face of Leksa-kom-trikru is not so bad after all_!” Dahlia inspected her envied cheek bones and smokey eyes.

_“You’re stunning. Sister.”_ Jago nodded his agreement.

Dahlia stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes flashed black involuntarily. She turned away from the glass sharply. She hoped her brother had not noticed her dark side scream from within - yet again.

* * *

 

On leaving the restroom, Dahlia struck each party goer mute. Alpha and Omega turned their heads as the gorgeous Dahlia brought the room to heel. Ally rose quickly from her seat as Dahlia approached the table.

_“Dahlia!”_ Amina smiled wildly at her refreshed sibling.

_“You look outrageously divine.”_ Amina twirled her sister on the spot.

Across the bar, Alana all but stamped her foot.

_“What do you think, Ally?”_ Jago pointed at his goddess like sister.

_“I...”_ Ally fumbled.

Amina covered her mouth to halt a laugh, Ally remained stunned, as if she were about to be struck by an oncoming freight train.

Across the bar, Alana's eyes narrowed suspiciously on her half-sister and the sultry Dahlia.

_“It is all my brot...”_ Dahlia paused.

Her attention drawn to the main entrance on the other side of the club.

Zinnia frowned.

_“What is it?”_   Jago asked.

Dahlia floated a short number of steps towards the exit. Her eyes focused, her head tilting slightly to one side. The wolf inside picked up on a sudden change in pitch. A fast-approaching dark energy just like her own fizzed through the air outside the club.

_“What is it?”_ Jago repeated.

_“Mother is here”_ Dahlia confirmed.

 

 


	17. Can you listen as well as you hear?

 

 

 

 _“You say you just don't see it, I say it's perfect sense. We just can't get_ agreement _, in this present tense, We all talk a different language, Talking in defence.”_ D

 

* * *

 

 

Jago and Amina looked sharply upon Dahlia. Her back still turned, her senses drawn to her mother’s rapid approach.

 

All three-sibling readied themselves to follow Dahlia out of Trinity.

 

“No…it’s me she wants.” Dahlia gestured for her siblings to remain seated.

 

Silence struck the recently jovial group.

 

“Just wait here.” Dahlia ordered.

 

The young girl headed for the exit and her mother’s pending confrontation.

 

“Dahlia, wait!” Zinnia stood, then placed her coat over Dahlia’s shoulders.

 

"Manners, finally! Mother will be most impressed.” Dahlia ruffled Zinnia’s blonde mane.

 

“Now…stay here!"

 

Dahlia gave her command as she left. The group watched her glide out of the busy Trinity.

 

“Fuck!” Zinnia sighed heavily as she sank back down in her chair.

 

…………………………………………………………………………………..

 

Lexa had barely rounded the street corner as she stopped dead in her tracks.

 

Dahlia stood patiently waiting outside Trinity. Her posture perfect, her hands clasped behind her back.

 

“Ha Yun, Nomon.” Dahlia bowed respectfully.

 

Lexa took one look at her daughter's recovering complexion, her burning green eyes, the arrogance and superiority still evident in her stance. She had turned. Her dark side had surfaced – Lexa was certain of that. The sharp mother was not easily fooled. The inner turbulence had in no way settled down. That dark alter ego, She still sat there, smiling gleefully just beneath Dahlia’s skin.

 

“How long? How long were you without your light?” Lexa replied as she strolled towards her eldest daughter.

 

“Long enough.” Dahlia confessed.

 

Lexa wasted no time in confronting her unsteady child. Lexa knew of this feeling. The ego boost that came with instilling fear in Alpha twice your size. Watching them cower in fear - that was addictive, empowering, dangerous.

 

“What brought you back?” Lexa mirrored her daughter’s regal stance.

 

“Your teachings… as always mother.” Dahlia’s eyes never left Lexa’s.

 

An awkward silence ensued. The thick compact snow muffled any convenient noise that may have interrupted the building tension. There was nothing. Only the sound of her own steady heartbeat accompanied the Queen, as she confronted her unique child.

 

“Show me?” Lexa gestured to Dahlia’s wrists.

 

“I will not.” Dahlia flatly replied.

 

Lexa raised a brow at the refusal.

 

“Your sire says there is evidence of blood at the scene of your altercation.” Lexa heard Luna’s turn of phrase leave her lips.

 

“I wouldn’t know. I was not conscious when I was removed from the …altercation, as you call it.” Dahlia narrowed her eyes.

 

“You will submit yourself to training and meditation. You allow your darkness to linger on for too long. You are far too polite a hostess to her when she visits. I have warned you of this, daughter.”

 

Dahlia repositioned her feet. She stretched upwards to stand taller, clearing her throat before attempting to speak.

 

“I will submit myself to training, but only if you will hear my case for integrating the Natblida again.” Dahlia ensured to look down at her mother from the top of the wooden staircase.

 

Lexa smirked at her daughter’s classic intimidation techniques. Heda remained unmoved though.

 

“This is not a negotiation, Dahlia, and I will not discuss this on the steps of a teenage night club!” Lexa’s low voice rumbled.

 

“When we open up a quarrel, Between the present and the past, We only sacrifice the future,  
but It's the bitterness that lasts.” Dahlia quoted.

 

Lexa locked eyes with her emboldened first born as she stepped closer.

 

“Don’t look so surprised that I am well read, mother. You orchestrated my education after all.” Dahlia drawled. 

 

Lexa raised her chin, proudly.

 

Dahlia clenched her jaw.

 

“I wish you would see things as I do.” Dahlia briefly looked away from Lexa.

 

“But we never truly see things as they are. We see things as we are.” Lexa gave her own quote.

 

“And how am I, Mother?” Dahlia rolled her eyes as the battle of intellect continued.

 

“Full of passion and rebellion. Full of left wing ideals and anger over perceived social injustice.”

 

“Perceived!” Dahlia snapped.

 

“The 14th Clan …”

 

“You mean, OUR kind!” Dahlia corrected Lexa.

 

Lexa frowned as her daughter’s manners began to fade. This same debate raging over and over between them.

 

“The 14th clan are not so righteous. Their hearts are not filled with the good intentions that sit in your heart. They are saturated in anarchy and darkness. What you wish to bring to them will only lead you to ruin. They are not the noble race you think they are. Trust me, I know!”

 

“Why can you not say OUR people? Why must you always say the 14th clan!” Dahlia’s eyes morphed as her darker self tried to present.

 

“Dahlia!” Lexa held up her palm, warning her struggling daughter to contain herself.

 

Dahlia ambled down the staircase, she towered above her mother when wearing heels. She stalked forwards like a wolf leading a hunt.

 

“When have I not followed your rule? When have I ever stepped out of line? Never!” Dahlia shouted.

 

“Mind your manners, child!” Lexa warned.

 

 “I think you are afraid! Afraid that I will succeed where you have failed!” Dahlia dared.

 

“Control yourself!” Lexa growled.

 

“I am in control of myself!” Dahlia pounded her chest.

 

“You fractured a guard’s spine in three places!” Lexa finally snapped back.

 

Dahlia surged forward at Lexa, yelling for all to hear.

 

“He is lucky I didn’t rip it out through his fucking THROAT!” Dahlia’s dark side momentarily broke free.

 

Lexa grabbed quickly at her daughter's upper arms. Holding her firmly in place until the darkness subsided. Again, Lexa showed no fear as she got to grips with her powerful child. She stared into those deadly black eyes, addressing the dark shade that lived with her daughter.

 

“You cannot hide from me!” Lexa whispered.

 

Dahlia took a deep breath. Her light twinkling into life once more.

 

“Please, Mother…I need only a small number of loyal men. Let me return to the Natblida. Give me a chance to show you I know how to aid them, I know how to bring order to them. Amina’s light was able to aid me. Luna’s children, their blood is the answer I am certain.” Dahlia kept her eyes tightly closed as that sick feeling filled her guts again.

 

“I tire of this Dahlia. As I have said previously, there is nothing that can be done about The 14th Clan.” Lexa spoke softly.

 

Silence again, Dahlia almost drew blood as her nails dug into her palms. She clenched her fists so tightly by her sides once more.

 

“Is your heat due?” Lexa dared to ask.

 

Dahlia burst out laughing. Shaking her head at her unbelievably forward mother.

 

“Why do you ask such a thing? Do you wish to choose for me a mate as you choose for me my outfits?” Dahlia failed to keep the resentment from her voice as she pulled herself free of her Mothers hold.

 

Lexa was momentarily taken back by the comment. It did not show on her face though.

 

“You will return to Polis first thing tomorrow morning. You will submit yourself to training to ensu-”

 

“I will not submit myself to anything! Do you forget that I am almost eighteen years of age?”

 

“And do you forget whom you are talking to, young Lady!!” Lexa raised her voice, stepping even closer to the dangerous Dahlia where most would step back.

 

Dahlia instantly straightened her posture under her mother’s authoritative glare and tone of voice.

“If you cannot get a hold of yourself child… I will!”

 

“Apologies…my Queen.” Dahlia’s head lowered.

 

Heda released a great sigh.

 

“Please…don’t call me that.” Lexa requested.

 Her eyes now softening. The commander felt a great cavernous pit forming already between herself and her first born.

 

The door behind opened promptly. Lexa smiled as she spotted three more of her children come into view. A month away suddenly felt like years as their faces came into focus.

 

“Mother!” Zinnia exclaimed, darting down the steps.

 

“Hello, Zinni…a!” Lexa lost her words as Zinnia lifted her from her feet. Twirling her Mother in the air.

 

The blonde- teen- beast having no sense of appropriate.

 

“Baby…put me down.” Lexa felt her child’s inhuman strength within the clumsy bear hug of an embrace.

 

“Zinnia! … not in public!” Jago sort to free his mother from his puppy brained sisters grasp.

“I told you all to wait inside!” Dahlia grit her teeth.

 

Zinnia returned her mother to the ground. Jago straightened Lexa’s clothes immediately, helping her regain a more majestic image for their people. Mother and son were just as equally fond of pomp and ceremony.

 

“I am happy to see you, and I do mean all of you!” Lexa’s eyes lingered on Dahlia.

 

Lexa held out her arms. Her pups gathering and snuggling into their much-missed mother. All but Dahlia of course. The young Queen to be stood still before the steps of Trinity. Watching curiously as her siblings bonded with their mother so effortlessly.

 

Lexa felt Amina pull her into a hug.The Queen couldn’t help but play with natural, wild, tribal curls.  Lexa held her impossible child back at arm’s length.

 

“Let me look at you.” Lexa smiled.

 

Anima blushed instantly.

 

“You grow even more beautiful than your birth mother each day.” Lexa beamed.

 

Amina smiled, shyly.

 

“Do not tell her that I said that though.” Lexa winked.

 

Amina laughed, as Lexa brought a hushing finger to her child’s lips.

 

Dahlia withdrew from the stairs, bypassing Lexa as she attempted to return Zinnia’s coat.

 

“Where you going?” Zinnia asked.

 

“I would rather walk home.” Dahlia nodded her goodbye to her mother.

 

“It’s an hour walk!” Zinnia exclaimed.

 

“Mothers carriage is only down the street, sister.” Jago offered.

 

“I need to clear my thoughts.” Dahlia growled.

 

“Zinnia...you will escort your sister home.” Lexa butted in.

 

Dahlia turned to face her increasingly annoying mother.

 

“Do you really think I need a chaperone? After all you have taught me?” Dahlia laughed.

 

Slowly, Lexa watched the revelation unfold in her daughter’s eyes.

 

Dahlia laughed again.

 

“It is not I that you wish to protect, is it? You think me so unstable? That I might murder one of my own subjects as I stroll merrily home?”

 

“My subjects, not yours.” Lexa corrected her still power drunk daughter.

 

“And no…that is not what I think. Mind reading is a fool’s errand, Dahlia.” Lexa stood firm.

 

A small voice from the staircase sought Lexa’s attention.

 

“Your Highness. I will walk Dahlia home.” Ally offered.

 

Lexa watched on curiously, as Dahlia whole demeanour changed in the Azgeda’s presence.

 

“As you wish.” Lexa nodded at Ally respectfully.

 

As the remaining children headed for their Mothers carriage, Lexa held back. Her eyes drawn to Ally covering Dahlia’s shoulder’s with her coat, her hand placed on the small of her daughters back as they walked away.

 

“Dahlia!” Lexa called after her daughter.

 

Dahlia stopped. She breathed in deeply as she felt her mother’s gaze upon her back. The lanky girl wandered back to her royal parent.

 

“I will be in the great hall no later than the break of dawn tomorrow, mother, you have my word.” Dahlia folded her arms

 

Lexa looked beyond Dahlia to the loitering Ally. She stood waiting in the exact spot Dahlia had said.

 

“Mother, I will not diso...

 

“Once it starts it cannot be stopped.” Lexa cut her daughter off. Her eyes still focused on Ally.

Dahlia furrowed her brow, then glanced over her shoulder at her friend. Her arms slowly unfolding, as she caught onto what her mother meant.

 

“Just one drop is all it takes.Then for eternity, their heart is always yours. No matter what becomes of your own.”

 

Lexa whispered her warning as she tenderly moved a strand of dark hair from her special little girls face.

 

Dahlia swallowed

 

“I know.”  She faintly whispered, before returning to her chaperone.


	18. Heartbeats

 

 

_"And you, you know the hand of the devil. And you, kept us awake with wolves teeth, sharing different heartbeats in one night." (L.)_

 

* * *

 

 

 Lexa sat silently in her grand armchair. Both feet placed comfortably on a velvet footstool opposite. Her attention was intently drawn towards the open window that looked out over Polis. A look of deep thought stained the Queen’s features.

A gentle breeze jostled the thick material of the opulent curtains that dangled from the fixing above the massive pane of glass. The intrusive cool night air wandered in and numbed any stress the warrior Mother may have felt.

Currently, Heda attempted to settle her thoughts over how best to deal with her volatile teenage daughter. The look of disdain in Dahlia’s eyes as she took her mother in always wounded the strong woman greatly, even though she did not let it show.

 The commander’s eyes darted about the dark sky outside, her jaw tensing as she clamped her teeth together. The truth was now gnawing away at her insides - an undeniable clarity that banged its fists heavily upon the door of home truths. Dahlia, Lexa’s true first love, was growing stronger with each passing day. Soon, her gifts would surpass the Queen’s herself. Time was ticking on, and Lexa was no closer to quelling the darkness within her passionate first-born. The stars above seemed to twinkle in unreadable code. At these times, in these solitary moments, Lexa wished she could decipher the cryptic messages from above.

From the corner of her eye, the Queen noticed her lover’s stir. Two sets of legs were still loosely tangled together within the bed sheets. Lexa watched pinkish toes peek out from the white bed linen; those toes stretched towards the edge of the mattress, seeking an escape route from the warm cotton sheets. There in Lexa’s large bed, white skin pressed up against brown. Luna lay within Lexa’s soft sheets, her leg hooked comfortably over Clarke’s; her bare breasts pressed into the beast’s naked back as the two recovered from Lexa’s love. 

As if on queue, The Flou-girl’s eyes peeled slowly open. Her focus immediately drawn to the lost Queen.

Luna noticed immediately Lexa’s form had not returned to its usual human visage. The commander was currently very much of her kin, the feared Natblida. Her hair was as black as the sky outside, her eyes like the surface of pooling crude oil. The way Lexa’s skin pigment changed from a rosy pink hue to a cold lily-white still amazed Luna. Thick veins spread out like wild brambles across her Queen’s flesh; those veins lifted to the surface, the fluid inside always so desperate to be set free! Only a loose white shirt covered Lexa’s upper half, as long, naked legs stretched out endlessly towards the footstool.

The Natblida held a hand up for inspection. Her eyes tracked a thick pulsing vein shooting across the back of a delicate hand, wrapping itself around a narrow wrist and travelling up a tensed forearm, it was not unlike a venomous snake.

Luna was not ashamed to admit that she enjoyed the change in Lexa’s appearance. The otherworldly creature that lay between her thighs at night. The dark animal beauty that bit at her throat and penetrated her insides until Luna could take no more. Luna was unlikely to refuse Lexa…no matter which guise she took. Luna's head was groggy though, her limbs tired and her throat sore from singing her satisfaction for all of Polis to hear. The after effects of allowing Lexa to infect her body so frequently lingered on for Luna the older she got. The flou-girl could never hide the evidence of her being intimate with Lexa. Luna’s senses remained in a state of euphoria for hours after making love with her childhood friend.

 

“Did you find her?” Luna sleepily croaked.

“Yes, I did.” Lexa kept her voice quiet and her eyes focused on the sky outside.

Luna carefully shuffled up the bed. She turned a hip into the mattress and propped up a head of fluffy hair with her hand. Luna was careful in her movements. The light snoring from the blonde at her side told Luna that Clarke was indeed exhausted. The beast was never very appreciative when abruptly woken from her slumber prematurely.

Luna let her fingertips play with the long rebellious blonde curls that fell down the prime’s back.

“You know, between the two of us. It is quite likely we will give her a coronary in this bed.” Luna grinned coyly at Lexa.

“Klark has more than enough stamina to handle two Omega, if not three more.” Lexa still stared out of her window.

“Three more huh?” Luna smiled with devilish intent.

The comment raised Lexa’s attention. The Natblida shot a glance at her playful Luna. An unavoidable smile starting to pull at the corner of her mouth.

“You’re a brazen harlot.” Lexa raised a brow.

“Ha!” Luna barked out a laugh louder than anticipated.

The Flou-girls eyes fell immediately to the stirring Alpha. She quickly covered her mouth as Clarke's brow wrinkled at the sound of her amusement.

The muscled beast settled though. Luna ran a hand across Clarke's upper arm, squeezing the bicep gently. Something maternal activated in Luna as soft grunts steadily morphed back into that light snoring again. The soulful luna readjusted the bed sheets. Covering Clarke with the warm cotton and gently fondling her hair.

The two Omega shared a look of love and affection for their beast. The Skai- girl that gave herself so freely to the two Tri-girls more than deserved a tender touch from her lovers. Luna still felt the sheer size of Clarke's length inside. Where her tight inner muscles had been stretched out, and her deepest regions invaded repeatedly. Clarke had come inside Luna on countless occasion. Luna never tired of the sensation though. She never bored of the look of ecstasy on Lexa’s face either, as she orgasmed for both her lovers.

“What is the plan with Dahlia then?” Luna braved.

Lexa sat up straighter in her chair. Removing her feet from the footstool, she twisted to face an inquisitive Luna. The flou-girl held her breath as Lexa’s black eyes scanned over her form possessively. The look of lust lingering in Lexa’s eyes was hard to ignore.

“Leksa, What about Dah..”

Luna was quickly silenced as Lexa exited her chair. She stalked towards the bed, crawling on all fours upon the mattress towards a stricken Luna.

Luna closed her eyes as her Queen stretched towards her prey, careful not to disturb a sleeping Clarke below. Luna’s lips melted upon contact with Lexa’s. A slow, drawn out kiss began, the kind of kiss that Luna loved. Her insides tightened excruciatingly the deeper the kiss became. For a moment, Luna lost all train of thought. Finally, she broke free.

“I know what you’re doing, Leksa-kom-trikru.” Luna fought back.

Lexa smiled, bringing her lips back to an aroused Luna’s. Those lips travelled across Luna’s flushed cheek then down her throat. Luna let out a gasp as Lexa's firm tongue pressed against the responsive muscle by the side of her neck.

“Stop it. This is the second time this night that you have used your sexuality to evade discussion of Dahlia.” Luna accused.

Lexa paused. Retreating from Luna slowly. The Queen arched a brow at the clever Luna. She knew her Lexa all too well.

“I am not evading the discussion,” Lexa whispered.

“Yes you are, my friend.” Luna winked.

Lexa for the briefest of seconds allowed guilt to smear its ugliness across her beautiful face.

“Why? Why can't you talk to me about her.” Luna sadly asked.

“I ..” Lexa struggled.

“Let me in, Leksa. Please.” Luna ran a hand up Lexa’s forearm, lovingly.

Lexa retreated from the bed. She searched the carpet for her discarded pants and shoes.

“I wish you trusted me more with this.” Luna’s voice glided gently on the now awkward air.

“I do trust you. Dahlia will be attending court tomorrow. I will seek to train her there.”

 “She is …struggling.” Lexa added.

“Why?” Luna asked.

Lexa paused.

“Because she doesn’t have a Luna.” Lexa sadly smiled at her childhood friend and counsel.

Luna sighed sadly for the lonely Dahlia.

“Do you want me to be there? Let’s be honest Leksa, Dahlia and yourself do nothing but argue in the simplest of social setting. Klark sees nothing but Daddy’s little girl!” Luna rolled her eyes.

“No. That is not necessary Youc don’t need to be present.” Lexa quickly replied.

“Why did I bother to ask.” Luna sighed.

“Dahlia. She is my responsibility.” Lexa clarified.

“What? More so than your other fifteen children?” Luna snipped.

“That’s not what I meant. I just need some alone time with her” Lexa rubbed at her stressed temples.

“Then how can I help? I want to help you.” Luna ran a hand through her hair.

“Perhaps first thing in the morning you can collect Raven Reyes. Klark thinks it best her treatment is conducted here at the tower.” Lexa changed the subject from Dahlia swiftly.

“As you wish.” Luna sighed heavily

 


	19. The Curse of Tequila

 

 

_"Ode to Jose, the curse of Cuervo. So hard to say no although it gives one the fever. The first sip makes you well before you know it it's time. To say to hell with the Salt, lemon, and Lime." (Reyes)_

 

* * *

 

Yet another ball of crumpled up paper failed to hit its mark. The tightly compact hemp fibres danced around the steel rim teasingly, before tumbling toward the floor and joining several other failed shots on target.

“Damn it!”

Raven Reyes huffed out her frustration as she missed the trash can, yet again.

The tech genius glanced across to her out of sorts colleague.

Ally’s posture was not its usual on guard, ready to respond Alpha self. Like a student left to boredom by the most soporific of lecturers, Ally sprawled lazily across her desk, two hands clasped around her jaw and fingers stretching across her cheeks. She sank a heavy head into her palms. Thin wisps of blonde strands lifted into the air as she blew out a sombre breath.

“Why the hell am I doing this?” Raven threw her hands into the air, then set about forming another makeshift basketball.

Ally did not respond. Still, her eyes focused on the same spot on the lab wall opposite. Surely, there had to be some sort of project that needed to be finished? Surely the two of them had a deadline to meet or a report to finish for Clarke. On this particular morning, the atmosphere in the Garda scientific analysis lab was unusually downbeat.

“Oh yeah, I know why I’m doing this. I’m horribly lonely!”” Raven rolled her eyes at herself.

 “That’s nice.” Ally sighed, as she continued to stare at the wall.

Still, Ally appeared distant as she delivered another very automated response

Raven carried on regardless.

“Seriously, let’s examine the evidence. I got involved with the brother of my unrequited loves true love - just so I could feel closer to her. How fucked up is that? That’s a Raven Reyes fairy tale for ya right there.” Raven pointed in the air.

“That’s great.” Ally sighed.

Raven scowled at the lost Ally. Apparently, she really wasn’t listening.

“I slept with a Pauna just to see how big it felt inside? Raven lied.

“What!” Ally shrieked, sitting bolt up in her chair.

“Ha! so finally you’re listening, you little shit!” Raven threw her paper ball at Ally.

“I’m sorry.” Ally watched the sphere of paper roll into the middle of the room.

“What’s with you? You have girl face.” Raven wiggled her finger up close to Ally’s eyes.

“Hey!” The ice wolf pulled back, batting the hand away.

“I am a girl! … an Alpha female. I should have a girl face” Ally protested.

“No! I mean _thinking_ about a girl face.” Raven leant forward. Placing herself directly into Ally’s personal space.

“There is a girl that I like.” Ally blushed.

Raven suddenly smiled from ear to ear.

“Oh, my! Is there finally some spice in your sauce?”

Raven quickly grimaced at her own statement.

Ally’s flesh morphed into a deeper shade of red.

The wired Raven shoved Ally playfully, much to the pup’s surprise.

“Tell me! Who is the lucky girl? All these years of holding it in. She’s in for one hell of a night! I'd maybe think about laying down a couple towels.” Raven’s flinched with a nervous tick.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ally quirked her head.

“Urgh! I’m overdue my Lexashot. I’m a little strung out.” Raven confessed.

“I see.” Ally frowned at Raven

“Still…Tell me! Who is she?” Raven jumped up and down in her seat, clapping like a deranged seal.

“It's Dah...”

“No no…let me guess! It’s the lady cop from Clarke’s office. The one that’s always twiddling her hair in front of you? Or wait…The girl from Café Jaha? She goes bright red whenever you walk in.

“It's Dahl..”

“I never realised before that you’re such a panty soaker Kid” Ally was cut off, again.

Ally scowled at the giddy Raven.

“I know who it is! It’s…

“It’s Dahlia!” Ally yelled over the babbling Raven.

Raven paled.

“Da…Dahlia!? Thee Dahlia? The six-foot-tall supermodel with skyscraper legs Dahlia? Makes Lexa seem like your average girl next door. Raven was wide-eyed.

Ally nodded, sheepishly.

“Oh, Honey! I think we need to start with something much smaller! You can’t go from a drop of water to a bottle of tequila overnight!”

Ally arched a confused brow.

 “Dahlia is the bottle of tequila.” Raven whispered, comically.

“Do you say she will not find me attractive because I am…peculiar? I know what people say about me.

Raven saw the mild hurt in Ally’s proud eyes.

“Wait, no. That is _not_ what I am saying. You know you’re my baby boo.” Raven tapped a finger on the end of Ally’s nose.

“Then what are you saying?” Ally tilted her head curiously.

“She’s just…she’s so…” Raven struggled to find the words she wanted.

“She makes you nervous. You’re afraid of her?” Ally suggested.

“ Sweetheart. – I am goddam terrified of her! To me, you’re like little red riding hood, and she’s the big bad wolf.

“I’m not a child Raven. But thank you for looking out for me. Luna is a fool to miss out on life with Raven Reyes. I love you very much.”

“Aw... You were listening to my slow decline into self-loathing after all.”  Raven pinched Ally’s cheeks.

“Do not do that.” Ally attempted to pull away.

A shadow loomed in the door beyond Raven.

“Dahlia!” Ally stood quickly as Dahlia suddenly appeared.

Raven nervously searched the room for a puff of black smoke.

“See… How the hell does she do that? Not at all creepy!” Raven mumbled under her breath as Dahlia magically appeared in the doorway.

“May I enter?” Dahlia requested, the door handle held loosely in hand and her head peeping around the glass panel.

The Azgeda remained rooted to the spot and star struck.

Raven pulled Ally back down into her chair, via the neck of her t shirt. The pup’s eyes widened as she was unexpectedly dragged downwards.

“She needs to be invited in! Otherwise, she can’t cross over the threshold!” Raven whispered frantically to Ally.

“Raven Reyes! Dahlia is not a vampire. Don’t be so ridiculous! Ally muttered back from behind the desk.

“Hey! I’m trying to save your soul, Romeo!” Raven pinched Ally’s upper arms

“Ouch!” Ally slapped at Raven’s hand.

Dahlia squinted her eyes curiously as the two nerds pushed and shoved each other clumsily.

Ally managed to escape Raven’s clutches. She stood quickly, straightening her clothes as she faced Dahlia.

“Please, come in.” Ally gestured.

The tall girl took long strides towards a stunned Ally. Noting the ball of paper in her path. Dahlia stooped down, her grasp sweeping up the ball swiftly. Without looking, Dahlia tossed the ball into the corner of the room, depositing the projectile dead centre of the trash can.

“Motherfucker!” Raven blurted out.

Raven regrettably locked her brown eyes onto Dahlia’s intrigued green.

“All the better to see you with.” Raven mumbled as Dahlia’s enticing green entrapped her gaze.

Dahlia smiled radiantly at Raven as she approached. Those full lips parted and exposed bright white teeth with a hint of sharp fang.

“All the better to eat you with.” Raven swallowed as she took half a step back.

Dahlia’s attention had swapped from her awkward Ally to the dramatic Raven.

“Do I make you nervous?” Dahlia’s husky tone was bathed in nothing but Clarke Griffin.

The tech girl swallowed as the lanky Dahlia towered above.. Raven’s eyes quickly scanned the room for a box to stand on. She stretched upwards, foolishly attempting to match Dahlia’s stunning height.

“Me nervous? ...nope! What is there to be nervous about?  I mean, your shadow moves when you don’t, but that’s…normal. Right?”

Ally sank her face into her hands as Raven babbled on.

Dahlia ran her eyes curiously over the jabbering Raven. She noted how she became transfixed and frozen to the spot.

“Do you not like me, Raven?” Dahlia suddenly asked.

“What?  wh…who doesn’t like Tequila?” Raven stuttered.

“Excuse me?” Dahlia furrowed her brow.

Ally released a great sigh.

“I might even have a lime in my purse.” Raven babbled on, as she slowly stepped back from a stationary Dahlia.

Dahlia smirked at the dramatic Raven and her antics. She purposefully closed the gap between herself and her sire's retreating friend. She leant in close, forcing Raven to almost sit on the desk behind her.

“You have nothing to be afraid of.” Dahlia smiled as her eyes intentionally morphed black before Raven.

“Whoa!” Raven shot passed Dahlia and headed for the open door, only to find it slam shut on Dahlia’s playful will.

Raven pulled frantically on the door handle, forcing Dahlia to blurt out a laugh. The catch released and Raven Reyes all but sprinted down the corridor.

Ally cleared her throat.

“That was mean.” Ally folded her arms.

Dahlia turned, a great smile still across her lips.

“Perhaps. It was funny though. I have never seen Raven Reyes move so fast.” Dahlia bit her lip.

The two budding love birds locked eyes, then burst into shared laughter.

Ally held her side, it wasn’t often she laughed like this.

“She will get as far as Azgeda at that speed.” Ally smiled wildly.

“She almost pulled the door off its hinges with the strength of my sire.” Dahlia laughed.

“That was most amusing. She will wish to get me back though. I might need you to do that again.”

“Anything for you.” The promise slipped from Dahlia’s lips so easily.

Ally’s smile faded, Dahlia grinned at her own confession as Ally stood blushing before her.

“I have to start work. Then perhaps we can go for a walk?” Ally suggested.

“I’d like that. After I have met with my mother of course” Dahlia rolled her eyes then smiled gloriously.

That smile, it grabbed at Ally’s heart and crushed it tightly with so much might. It took Ally all of her strength to not gather the lovely Omega up in her arms.

The Azgeda sat at her desk, taking her focus back to her monitor and the day's work. The ice pup rubbed her eyes and grimaced slightly.

Dahlia noted the discomfort.

“Are your eyes bothering you?” Her voice suddenly bathed in concern

“They don’t usually, I have only odd days that the light bothers them.”

Dahlia approached, she sat herself on the edge of Ally’s desk. Without thought, she took Ally’s face into her hands. She gently circled her thumbs across her cheeks, as she inspected her enlarged pupils.

“I thought my mother treated your sight issue when you were a child?” Dahlia whispered.

“She did.” Ally’s voice wobbled as Dahlia’s scent filled her mind.

“My blood would have done a better job at treating the damage to your optic nerve and retina.” Dahlia bragged

“As I said, I have odd days. It’s usually when my pupils overly dilate.” Ally explained.

“Is it the light in here?” Dahlia glanced up to the ugly electric tube lighting above Ally’s desk.

“No... it’s not the light.” Ally swallowed. Her face still trapped in Dahlia’s hands.

“Then what else would make your pupils over di…” Dahlia stopped herself.

“Oh…I see.” Dahlia’s top lip curled as she continued to caress Ally’s face.

Ally ground her teeth together as her blood continued to travel south. There was no way she could stand from the cover of this desk. Not without showing Dahlia the extent of her affection for her.

Dahlia continued to hold Ally hostage in her palms.

“You’re very attractive, Dahlia.” Ally stared up at the stunning Omega.

“So are you. Under all this.!” Dahlia tugged playfully at Ally’s beanie hat.

Ally’s eyes darkened.

“Perhaps I should leave. I don’t wish to cause you further… discomfort.” Dahlia glanced beneath the desk.

“I…”

 Ally’s attention was taken by a knock at the door.

“Luna!” Ally piped up.

Dahlia turned quickly and dismounted from the desk.

Ally stood without thinking. Her manners taking over as the older Omega entered.

Luna glanced down at Ally’s visibly strained crotch.

“I hope I’m not interrupting something?” Luna winked at Ally.

Mortified, Ally suddenly realised what Luna was getting at. She sat herself down quickly, before Dahlia noticed her erection.

“I am looking for Raven Reyes. She is due at the tower for her treatment.”

“At the tower?” Dahlia queried.

“Yes. Your sire thinks it’s better if your mother’s blood Is not laying around in vials. What with the current issue on the streets.” Luna explained.

Dahlia narrowed her eyes suddenly on Luna. She scanned all over her body intricately.

Luna arched a brow at the apparent coveting.

“Ally. Can you contact Raven and tell her to meet me at the tower?” Luna tried to ignore Dahlia’s roving eyes.

“I will do it now.” Ally grabbed her radio.

“Thank you, Ally.”

Luna turned to exit.

“Luna!” Dahlia called after her Mothers lover.

“What is it, Child?” Luna asked.

“May I have a moment with you, privately?” Dahlia requested.

“Of course.” Luna looked suspiciously at Dahlia.

“I will hopefully see you later, Ally.” Dahlia smiled kindly at her friend.

Ally nodded, her ear still pressed to the radio.

Once out in the corridor. Luna stood looking up at the approaching Dahlia. Her eyes still travelling over her body.

“Congratulations.” Dahlia whispered. Her eyes finally landing on Luna’s womb.

Those eyes were so familiar to her. It unnerved Luna each time Dahlia looked at her body, in any manner.

“How do you know for sure?” Luna asked.

“My mother’s presence does not evade me. In any form.” Dahlia half smiled.

 Luna sighed.

“May I?” Dahlia held out her palms.

Luna nodded. She lifted her t-shirt, flinching slightly as Dahlia placed a hot palm upon her lower abdomen. Luna watched on curiously as Dahlia’s eyes gently closed shut.

A familiar scent of honey filled Luna’s senses, as Dahlia stood this close.

“You’re most definitely pregnant with my mother's child.” Dahlia confirmed.

 Luna looked down at Dahlia’s hand on her belly in amazement.

“I’m sure my mother will be ecstatic.” Dahlia offered only half a smile.

“Baby number seventeen…I’m not so sure.” Luna gave a brief laugh.

“Nonsense. She would have a hundred more with you I’m certain.”

“We’re not getting any younger, Dahlia.” Luna joked.

“Perhaps not.” The natblida respectfully nodded.

“Luna, I have a request of you.” Dahlia raised her chin.

That regal arrogance, that damn raised jawline. Luna’s mind stalled as an arrogant teenage Lexa flashed before her mind's eye. Only Dahlia’s gravelled tone of voice offered any resemblance to Clarke.

 “Will you talk to my Mother for me? I know how to aid those beyond the wall, but she will not listen to me. She only listens to you.” Dahlia scowled.

“Dahlia. You know I never interfere with your mother’s final orders. You know I especially don’t interfere when it comes to you.” Luna's looked anywhere but Dahlia.

“Please.” Dahlia offered wounded green eyes to Luna.

Luna finally braved a glance at Dahlia. That arrogant scowl of Lexa’s would also melt so quickly into this charming façade.

“You’re just as crafty and seductive as your damn Mother.” Luna cursed.

“Is that a yes?” Dahlia assumed.

Luna groaned out her doubt at a smirking Dahlia.

“It’s a maybe. You have never been an easy topic to broach with her.” Luna shook her head.

“I only want her to look at the research I gave her.”

“Very well.”  Luna conceded.

“Thank you, Luna. May I ask you one more thing?” Dahlia grabbed Luna’s hand. The Flou-girl felt a familiar quiver as that super powerful blood rumbled just beneath Dahlia’s skin. Dark hair fell forward as the young girl lowered her head and kissed the back of Luna’s hand.

“Yes.” Luna replied.

“When my mother first infected you, did it cause you pain?” Dahlia asked.

“No. it did not. It was a pleasant sensation.”

Dahlia nodded. A thousand more question still floating around her mind.

“Why do you ask?” Luna folded her arms.

Dahlia glanced toward the science lab.

“Oh…I see.” Luna whispered.

Dahlia’s cheeks flushed.

“I will say one thing. I was sixteen when your Mother first infected me. She was only fifteen. Her blood has evolved tremendously since. I can't imagine what it would feel like now to be infected by her for the first time.”

Dahlia frowned, still lost in deep thought.

“You really should discuss this with Leksa, Your blood is powerful. I can't say what it might do to another if you infect them? Even if that infection is filled with love.” Luna smiled.

Dahlia sighed, her eyes returned to the lab.

“I will see you at the tower shortly. Do yourself a favour, Dahlia, Don’t be late.” Luna winked.

 

 


	20. Daddy's little girl

 

 

 

As promised, Dahlia arrived promptly for her appointment with Lexa. Two grand oak doors slowly creaked open as daughter entered mother’s lair. Dahlia’s boots echoed apprehensively off the Stoney walls all around. There was nothing accidental about Dahlia’s choice of footwear. Nothing innocent about the decision to add another two inches to her already dazzling height. In the presence of her effortlessly commanding Mother, Dahlia psychologically needed those two inches. There was something about towering over Lexa that gave the girl a strange feeling of ascendancy.

The morning light cascaded in slithers through the windows of the great hall. The early dawn did not disappoint as it filtered through into the stifling legality of this room. Right now, this static seat of governance was oddly tranquil, filled with nothing but bright energy.

Dahlia closed her eyes for a moment. She bathed herself in the calm and serenity of this time of day. Unfortunately, the squabbling chatter of young children disturbed the teenagers moment.

“I have written the sentence correctly!” Abigail shoved her brother Aiden.

“It is incorrect! Mother told me so!” Aiden wasted no time in returning a gentle push into his twin sister. The two ten-year-old stood arms folded - facing off. Their older brother Rafe lounged in his Mother’s throne not three feet from them.

Dahlia silently crept up on her younger siblings. Their early morning lesson was already falling into conflict.

“Why won’t you listen to me!” Abigail stamped her foot.

“Because you’re wrong!” Aiden stamped his foot right back.

A 15-year-old Rafe smirked from his raised position in his mother’s throne. His head shaved at the sides with only a thick, black runway of hair down the middle. His smirk quickly faded as Dahlia came into view.

“Shit!” Rafe launched himself quickly out of the seat.

Dahlia approached with her hands behind her back. Her eyes focused on her mother’s now vacant throne.

“Do not let Mother catch you sat in that seat, Brother.” Dahlia warned.

“Sorry. It’s just really comfortable.” Rafe shrugged.

“Just don’t let her catch you. Trust me, she gets rather upset. I should know.” Dahlia winked.

Rafe smiled at his oldest sister. Then his brow furrowed with concern.

“Are you in trouble with Mother, Dahlia? Have you been bad again?” Rafe asked, nervously.

Dahlia cleared her throat.

 “What have you done to your hair?” The troubled girl sought to change the subject.

“Luna did it. It’s called a mohawk! It's impressive, don’t you think?” Rafe grinned proudly.

“Indeed.” Dahlia raised a brow.

“That’s just what mother said.” Rafe pouted.

Dahlia turned as she felt a tug on the back of her shirt.

“Dahlia! Tell Aiden he is stupid.” Abigail demanded.

“I will do no such thing. What are you bickering over anyway?”

“This!” Abigail presented Dahlia with her workbook.

“It is Trigedasleng,” Dahlia confirmed.

“and that is not the correct way to construct a sentence.” She added.

“Ha! I told you!” Aiden gloated.

Abigail’s face sank into sadness.

“Come. Let me explain.”

The three children sat on the floor surrounding Dahlia and the textbook.

“Possessive pronouns, these indicate whether something is being referred to as singular or plural. Look.”

_“dison laik ain_  - this is mine.  _dison laik omon -_  these are mine - _dison laik oson_  -these are ours.”

 

Dahlia was so engrossed in her teaching, she did not notice Clarke enter from a side room. The prime stood watching proudly, as Dahlia held her sibling's interest. Even the famously lazy Rafe looked transfixed.

Lexa and Luna slipped in behind Clarke. Lexa took note of the admiration in Clarke’s eyes, as Dahlia sat surrounded by her eager to learn siblings.

“Thank you for being punctual, Dahlia.” Lexa finally interrupted.

The three younger siblings stood quickly on hearing their mothers voice.

“Sire!” Dahlia only had eyes for Clarke as she smiled proudly on at her daughter.

 Almost a week had passed since Dahlia had last seen her sire. The girl bounded towards her exceptionally proud parent.

With a girlish squeal. Dahlia clattered into Clarke. The much taller girl laughed hard as Clarke easily lifted her in the air.

“You’re never too big for this.” Clarke smiled as she twirled the lanky Dahlia in the air. Eventually, Clarke placed a giggling Dahlia carefully back down.

Luna and Lexa watched the two bond from the sidelines.

Luna arched a curious brow.

“As I was saying…Daddy’s little girl.” Luna whispered as she shot a sideways glance at Lexa.

Lexa kept her eyes on the inseparable pair.

“I have missed you so much.” Dahlia smiled as she looped her arms around Clarke’s neck.

“I’m sorry. This case is taking over my life.” Clarke rolled her eyes.

“Well, I am happy to see you now.” Dahlia continued to smile widely.

“Hey. Maybe we can go out for something to eat. Let’s go to the market you love in Arcadia this afternoon?”

“I doubt Mother will agree to that. Not today.” Dahlia sighed.

The Queen headed over to her other children.

“Where is Rhiannon?” Lexa quizzed Rafe.

“She’s still in bed.” Rafe lazily stretched.

Lexa let out a frustrated groan.

“Luna. Will you please drag my other lethargic child out of her bed?” Lexa grumbled as a yawning Rafe displayed his tonsils to his Mother, yet again.

“Of course. Come now the rest of you. Shall we all go and jump on her bed?” Luna wiggled her eyebrows at the giggling children.

“Klark. Dahlia will be joining me today. She will not be free for lunch.” Lexa gave her order.

Dahlia’s smile dropped. Clarke gently held her little girls face in her hands.

“Hey, what have I told you about that face?” Clarke joked.

“It will stick that way when the wind blows.” Dahlia rolled her eyes.

“Yup!”

“That is scientifically impossible!” Dahlia corrected.

“Yeah well. My dad says differently.” Clarke smiled.

“My grandfather is not a man of science!” Dahlia raised a brow.

Clarke laughed loudly at the bemused look on her daughters face.

“I’m sorry about lunch. I must spend the day with Mother.”

“I know, she told me what happened.” Clarke half smiled.

“Did she?” Dahlia looked worried. Her skin suddenly paling

“Yeah. You want to work on your meditation skills.”

“I do.” Dahlia nodded.

“Look. You’re incredible, baby. All that power running in you. It’s a massive responsibility. I just know you’re gonna be unstoppable one day.”

Dahlia swallowed. A memory of her darker self-throwing the guard into the wall flashed before her eyes.

“You will be the greatest Queen the clans have ever known. It’s not surprising you have …emotional days. I know you can control it. You can do anything you want Dahlia. I have so much faith in you.” Clarke placed a loving kiss on Dahlia’s Cheek.

Lexa couldn’t help but smile as Dahlia’s whole aurora shone with brightness.

 “Ok,” Dahlia whispered.

“Hey! I’m holding you to that date with your boring old sire.” Clarke winked.

Dahlia suddenly grabbed Clarke, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Hey - hey. It's ok.” Clarke cuddled her dark angel

“You’re not boring and old. You’re responsible for this light inside me. I love you so much.” Dahlia squeezed Clarke tighter

Lexa swallowed on hearing those words leave Dahlia’s lips. As she witnessed Clarke's fingertips press into the material of Dahlias shirt. Pulling the young girl into her strong form. Lexa knew that feeling of sanctuary in Clarke’s arms all too well.

Clarke released her first born and headed towards a silenced Lexa.

“I won’t be home for dinner.” Clarke kissed her Queen gently on the lips. Lexa closed her eyes as Clarke’s lips smothered her own.

Now, in the absence of others. Dahlia and Lexa stood in awkward silence.

“What did you tell my sire regarding the…altercation.” Dahlia folded her arms into a defensive posture.

“I told her that you lost control of your emotions in light of someone insulting your brother.

“Did you tell her about the guard?” Dahlia asked. Her jaw clenched.

“What? That you threw him into a wall and fractured his spine.” Lexa glared at Dahlia.

Dahlia glared right back.

“I did not tell her that. I told her that he foolishly got between the four of you fighting.”

“What!” So, now my sire thinks that bigot is brave!” Dahlia snapped

“What would you have me say? It is better than her knowing what you’re capable of…For now.” Lexa was stern.

“For now?” Dahlia quizzed the statement.

“Dahlia. If you do not get a hold of your darker self. Your sire will see for herself exactly what you’re capable of with her own eyes. That is what gravely concerns me. I will not have Clarke witness such a thing.”

Dahlia lowered her head.

“If we cannot find a way to quell this rage within you. I will have no choice but to tell your sire the whole truth about what this blood does to you.”

“What _your_ blood does to me.” Dahlia corrected her mother.

“and I truly want to help you with that.” Lexa whispered.

“Fine… let’s begin.” Dahlia replied, sullenly.


	21. Govinda Jaya-Jaya

 

 

_"Something meaty for the main course, That's a fine looking high horse, what you got in the stable? we've got a lot of starving faithful." (D)_

 

* * *

 

 

Lexa chose a candle for meditation, she took a minute to prepare the space in which she and Dahlia would meditate. She turned down the lights and drew the window shades closed. The Queen always found meditation much easier in a room that's wasn't too bright. The Great Hall was now dimly lit and at a comfortable temperature. 

Dahlia stood arms folded as she watched Lexa dart briskly between windows. The teen's posture already screamed rebellion towards her authoritative Mother.  
 

Lexa knelt down and lit her candle. She positioned the flickering flame at eye level on a small wooden table. She gestured for Dahlia to take a seat opposite her on the thick animal rug stretched out across the cold marble floor.

Dahlia sighed as she lowered herself down. She crossed her legs and rested her palms upon her knee caps, she was now in perfect symmetry with the powerful woman sat opposite.

“This table is too low. I am much taller than you, Mother.” Dahlia bragged.

“It’s OK to look down at the candle slightly, but make sure that your head is not tilted too far forward and that your body is not slumping.”  Lexa instructed.

Dahlia glanced disapprovingly at the low table.

 “and Dahlia.” Lexa rolled her neck slowly.

“You may thank my genetics for your dazzling height and appealing aesthetics at any point.” Lexa quipped.

Dahlia clenched her jaw as her mother appeared confident and strong willed before her. Nobody had the nerve to talk to Dahlia quite like Lexa did.  
  
“Tri-Kru meditation practice is pointless and inefficient.” Dahlia mocked.

 “Meditation is a mental and physical course of action that we use to separate ourselves from thoughts and feelings to become fully aware. It has played a part in virtually all religions.”

“Meditation does not always have a religious element. It is a natural part of the human experience.” Dahlia, as usual, argued with her knowledgeable mother.

“Deep meditation is a profound and serene experience. It takes us closer toward something greater than ourselves. Some may call that in itself religious.” Lexa countered.

Dahlia sighed loudly.

“The reason that we’re are able to see is that our brains process the signals that are sent to it via the optic nerves in your eyes. What happens as meditation progresses is the brain begins to stop processing these signals. This profoundly serene experience is nothing more than biology.”

Lexa ignored her willful daughter's attempts at forcing debate. Instead, she kept her eyes closed and inhaled deeply.

“Anyone who has looked at a sunset or a beautiful painting or felt calm and inner joy, while their mind becomes clear and their perception sharpens, they have had a taste of the realm of meditation. It is simply a matter of quelling deeply seeded craving and selfish desire.” Lexa continued her lesson.

“But we’re animals, Mother. We are consumed by craving and desire. The need to gratify one’s needs is always there. You of all people should know that. Luna is not the only Omega I have seen leaving your bedchamber before dawn.” Dahlia again attempted to unsettle her Mother.

Lexa smirked to herself. If Dahlia wanted to play this game. She would comply.

“Gratification? Are you referring to Ally?” Lexa kept her eyes closed as she awaited her daughter’s response.

Dahlia’s eyes snapped open. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as her mother easily forced her onto the ropes.

 “You will experience the world very differently if you’re overflowing with generosity and kindness rather than anger and war, Dahlia. Surely, one as pure in spirit as the Azgeda deserves nothing but your best side after all.” Lexa surmised.

Dahlia swallowed. Her throat dried up rapidly as her Mother read her intentions towards Ally so quickly.

“If you make love to her, you will inevitably infect her. Trust me, Our blood is an experience lovers tend to enj…”

“Stop!” Dahlia snapped.

Lexa’s eyes slowly opened. She held her daughter’s hard eyes with her own.

“As you wish. May I suggest you focus on the task at hand though. Rather than questioning my sex life when you do not have the nerve to discuss your own, child.” Lexa’s top lip curled as she rained in her headstrong daughter.

As the hours passed on. Dahlia eventually found herself sinking into a place of calm reflection.

A loud booming on the great hall grand doors started both Mother and Daughter.

“My Queen, I tried to stop them.” Jackson stuttered as five Imperial guards barged passed him.

Lexa frowned heavily as she watched the muscular troops carelessly jostle the fragile Jackson, nearly knocking the weaker man to the ground.

“What is the meaning of this?” Lexa glared at the group of strong Alpha.

“This gives me no pleasure my Queen.” The ring leader announced.

Dahlia ran curious eyes over her mother as she felt her pure, unfiltered Night blood race around her system.

“We come here seeking justice from you.”

“Regarding what?” Lexa growled.

“Her!” The guard pointed a fat finger at Dahlia.

Lexa shot a glance at her daughter. The regal teen only arched a brow in response.

* * *

 

Moments later

In the half light. Lexa scanned the strong guard suspiciously.

“We demand this audience with you, Heda. This is of the utmost importance.” The second guard at least had the sense to bow.

 

Lexa found her meditation at its end, just as she felt Dahlia was making progress. The tranquil candlelight now replaced with the dying winters sun as the curtains were now drawn open and the shutters raised. Lexa perched regally in her throne, Dahlia stood by her right side with her hands clasped behind her back.

“You have your audience with me. Now Speak!” Lexa snarled at the rebelling guards.

“We worship you, Heda. We would gladly die for you. But she is out of control.”

“She?” Lexa snapped.

“Dahlia-kom-trikru.” The guard refused to make eye contact with the teen by her mother's side. Even though he was forced to speak her name.

“How can we serve her as we serve you? She has threatened my entire squadron and seriously wounded two others. Look what she has done to this young boy.

“Two?” Lexa quired.

Dahlia repositioned her feet. The guilty body language screamed at Lexa from the corner of her eye.

“Yes, my Queen. Two. This is Tobias. He is only Sixteen and now, thanks to her, he can walk no more than several feet with out enduring agony. His body has been shattered internally, she used her magic to run him into a wall.”

The ringleader presented a severely beaten teenager. No older than the triplets. Lexa noted how the boy quivered in Dahlia’s presence.

Lexa turned to face Dahlia. The teen only had eyes for the leader of the rebelling guards,

“You have been accused, Dahlia-kom-trikru. What say you?” Lexa opened the floor to her daughter.

Dahlia smirked as her dark side fizzled into life within. She took only one step towards the cowering boy. He instantly sought to use his comrades as a shield. Dahlia kept her eyes on the solid form of the ringleader as she spoke.

“My apologies, Mother. It was my intention to have the wall repaired.” A dark Dahlia teased.

Lexa briefly closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

“You see! She does not respect us!. She …”

“I do not respect bigots and misogynists that think themselves my betters because my anatomy differs to theirs!” Dahlia quickly surged forwards. Only to find Lexa capture her wrist quickly and hold her back.

“Let her go! If conflict is what she desires, then we will gladly gi…

Lexa swiftly held up a hand to silence her furious guards.

“You will all lose in close combat with me.” Dahlia’s eyes morphed into pools of black tar.

“Enough!” Lexa shouted.

“What is it you seek?” Lexa raised her chin as she addressed the ring leader of the brewing revolt.

“We ask that she is punished for her actions as any criminal would be.” The guard narrowed his eyes on a smirking Dahlia.

“Mind how you speak.” Lexa growled.

“Then there is the matter of Jarrell. He will not speak the truth for fear of recrimination, but I am confident this monster is the one that tossed him into a wall in the bathhouse.”

“YOU WILL MIND YOURSELF, SERGEANT!”

The guards leapt back as Lexa launched herself out from her throne. Her eyes morphing black and her talons tearing through her fleshy fingertips.

Dahlia also stepped back. Her breathing became laboured, her lips splitting into an exhilarated smile as her mother's true form presented itself.

“YOU ENTER MY COURT UNANNOUNCED! YOU MAKE DEMANDS, AND NOW YOU CALL MY DAUGHTER A MONSTER!”

“Frag op em, Heda!” Dahlia yelled from behind.

Lexa turned swiftly to look Dahlia up and down. She saw the look of admiration and awe in her daughters face as her own temperament exploded into darkness. Lexa glanced at her own reflection in the large mirror by her throne. Surely, This was not the example to be setting.

Dahlia saw the self-doubt in her Mothers eyes as she took in her true image.

“You have never looked more beautiful to me.” Dahlia whispered.

Lexa closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply and attempted to reign in her own volatile blood.

Dahlia warily placed a hand on her mother's shoulder. She squeezed gently, sweeping a loving thumb across her Mothers flesh. Lexa’s eyes snapped open in surprise. Her heart warmed at the rare physical affection offered from her distant daughter.

“Execute these traitors, Heda.” Dahlia’s dark eyes mirrored Lexa’s own.

The guards watched the interaction intensely. They gripped their weapons tightly as Mother and Daughter seemed to be planning a brutal response. Together.

“No wonder she cannot control her insipid toxic blood. Heda no more!” The ring leader chanted.

Dahlia set deadly eyes upon the ringleader as he cursed her kin and sought to begin a coup against her Mother.

Dahlia pointed a sharp-edged fingertip at the ringleader.

“Mark my words. Very soon…I will remove your head!” Dahlia promised.

Lexa held up a dominant hand to quell the violent atmosphere.

“Do you stand with your colleague?  Heda no more?” Lexa addressed the remaining rebels.

The ringleader turned to his comrades, only to find them step away from him, including the young Tobias.

“Cowards! You’re afraid!” He spat.

“Then this conference is at its end. Return to your barracks, and we will speak no more of this.”

“No!” Dahlia snapped.

“Dahlia!” Lexa pulled her daughter back again.

“It is done!” Lexa held her daughter’s black eyes with her own.

Lexa descended the steps towards the ringleader.

“Your name is Nyko. You have served in this regiment for fifteen years. Your service record has been exemplary.”

Nyko fought off tears. His emotions stressed and strained in response to Dahlia’s threat and Lexa’s forgiveness.

“I simply cannot serve her as I serve you, my Queen.” The man's voice trembled.

“I will seek to change that opinion.” Lexa whispered.

“You will find that most difficult, Heda. Once she removes my head.” Nyko warned.

Lexa remained unmoved by the comment. Even though she heard rumbles of truth in Dahlia’s threat herself.

“Take your men. Do not remove that boy from medical care again. It was most cruel to parade him in front of me if it causes him pain to move.” Lexa ordered.

“Sha. Heda.” Nyko lowered his head before his queen.

“I will overlook your dissent only on this one occasion, Nyko-kom-Trikru. Next time. You will be charged with insubordination and treason to the throne. The punishment is death.” Lexa spoke sternly.

“Jackson, escort these men back to their barracks.”

“Sha, Heda” Jackson bowed.

 

 


	22. And i wish that you were not!!

 

 

_"No masters or kings when the ritual begins. In the maddening soil of this sad earthly scene, only then I am human, only then I am clean." (D)_

 

* * *

 

 

As the men left the great hall, Lexa turned to Dahlia.

“This has changed everything! You were fated to lead Dahlia, the spirits know you belong in this throne, in this tower!”

“The accident of birth put me in this tower!” Dahlia replied, flatly.

 

 

The defiant girl held herself with nothing but royal poise in the presence of her mother. Her eyes focused on the same spot on the wall opposite. Dahlia never blinked once as her Mother inspected her.

“You may have to face a tribunal over this. I will seek to make that private not public.” Lexa let out a sigh.

“I have no case to answer. Those men should have been executed for treason, by my hand, in your name.” Dahlia kept her eyes forward. Her hands behind her back and her chest puffed outward as if lined up for military inspection.

Lexa crept closer to Dahlia, her voice smothered in disbelief.

“No case to answer? You made a sixteen-year-old boy run himself into a wall. How many times have I spoken about reasonableness and propriety?” Lexa sought to make eye contact with the distant Dahlia.

“What would you class as reasonable propriety, mother? Death by forty-nine cuts? A sword slipped slowly through the heart? I keep forgetting how artful Tri- Kru's methods of punishment are.” Dahlia smirked.

“Do not mock any clan that resides within my kingdom.” Lexa growled.

“Then do not deny the existence of another!” Dahlia snapped.

“You are testing my restraint child.”

“Why?  Is it because I speak the truth?”

“No! It is because you just promised to decapitate a man!”  Lexa’s voice reverberated off the walls.

“What would your sire think?” Lexa shook her head and lowered her voice.

Dahlia's head sank down immediately. A sudden flash of upset and emotion tearing across her features as she imagined the look on horror on Clarke’s face.

“I…” Dahlia struggled to speak.

Lexa did not reply. She continued to circle her dangerous daughter. She let her head fall back, her eyes looking to the heavens above for strength.

“I can move the Natblida forward. I will move this kingdom forward. I already show greatness.” Dahlia boasted.

 

“Progress should never be measured by greatness and kingdoms, Daughter. It should be measured by the value placed on life. Important life. Life without privilege. The teenager you took control of and ran into a wall. That boy's value is your value!” That’s what defines an age, that’s what defines a species!”

Lexa spoke passionately.

Dahlia laughed in response.

“Do not speak to me of the value of others, Mother.”

“The eyes are the window to the soul, child. I see nothing but war in yours. Recently, they have only ever shone with steel.”

Dahlia hesitates.

“My blood is pure. My blood is nothing but that of the 14th Clan. I know you felt that darkness rise in me. Look how it affected you. Can you imagine what it's like to be surrounded by that? This is why I will not allow you to enter the dead zone. I have been there.” Lexa explained

Dahlia stood defiantly before her Mother.

“Permission to speak freely.” Dahlia grumbled.

Lexa nodded.

“I believe you ran from our kin. You think I do not know the truth, but I see it in your eyes. You did not win, and Leksa-kom-trikru always wins! She always gets what she wants.” Dahlia struggled to control her rage with every word that left her lips.

Lexa turned sharply, her eyes soaked in anger as Dahlia proceeded to press at her emotions. Forcing the controlled Queen to clench her fists.

“You turned your back on them! They needed you, and you abandoned them. My God, mother! - they don’t even have a clan crest of their own!”

“Calm yourself.” Lexa sensed her daughter’s ichor rise and boil in her veins.

“There are children within the 14th clan. They suffer, their bodies as emaciated as a dead cat in the street, while YOU live in this luxury tower with your wine, fatty meats, and your many lovers.”

“You will mind your tone, child!”

“You ran, Mother! – You ran because you were afraid. You were fearful that too much time in the dead zone, and you would turn into your own monstrous mother.” 

Dahlia let out a laugh.

“The irony that I am now afraid of turning into mine. Not because she is a monster, but because she is a coward!” Dahlia dared.

Lexa breathed in deeply through her nostrils, her fists still clenched by her side. She cast a warning look in the direction of her enflamed daughter.

“Luna’s children, their blood is the solution, and you know it. Amina’s blood. Their blood is fused with Luna’s light power and our darkness Mother. It can cast out the corruption that Rebecca Kane inflicted upon our people. You allow this blood to aid the beta’s but not our own kind!”

“I will not debate this any longer, child.” Lexa sought to end Dahlia’s rant.

“Yes, you will!” Dahlia grabbed Lexa’s shoulder as she turned away.

“There is nothing that can be done to change the Natblida and you will not be permitted to enter the dead zone!” Lexa screamed at the top of her lungs.”

Dahlia frowned. Her jaw grinding as she became increasingly infuriated with her Mother.

“They are beyond Hope. I am guilty of an excess of pride daughter – that much I will confess. Rebecca Kane did beat me! I protected my children from her…But I could not stop her from taking my kin from me.” Lexa breathed in heavily.

Dahlia attempted to calm her nerve. Hoping her mother would see her passion in aiding their people.

“Give me a chance to show you that the children you have created are our people’s salvation.”

“We drop aid packages weekly. They are not without supply.” Lexa stated.

“It is not enough to just survive! Do they not deserve better than that?” Dahlia pleaded with her mother.

“To us daughter, the devilry that resides there is too much. You will be like a sponge to a great flood of darkness.”

“I can handle it. I wish to aid our kin, mother!”

"Clearly, you cannot handle it! You will do as I say. As your Queen and as your ruler. You will fall in line, Dahlia”.

“I will not!” Dahlia shouted.

“I am your Mother!” Lexa hollered.

“AND I WISH THAT YOU WERE NOT!” Dahlia screamed back.

 

Lexa stepped back, her eyes flashing momentarily with hurt

 

Dahlia stood tall. Her back straight and her chin held high. The rapid rising and falling of her chest gave away the great upset she felt inside though.

“There is nothing I can do about you being my mother, but I can do something about you being my monarch!”

“Be mindful of your next move. Do not test me!” Lexa now began to feel her nerve entirely fail her.

Dahlia spoke through gritted teeth.

“I renounce your throne! I renounce your title! I renounce Polis!” The beautiful girl pounded her chest.

 “Then where will you go? If you are not my subject? If you’re disinclined to be my kin? What do you want now Daughter?”

Lexa cast back Dahlia’s cold stare.

Dahlia paused,

“You keep reminding me that you’re almost eighteen. That implies that you believe yourself to be a woman. Women know what they want Dahlia, little girls do not!”

Dahlia returned her Mother’s famed scowl in perfect symmetry.

“To burn the world or heal it? To take a lover by force or have her want you, regardless of what you are? To conquer or rule justly? Those are your choices. What do you want? - Dahlia-kom-trikru.”

Lexa gently moved a strand of hair from her daughter's angered face.

Dahlia’s light side fought to surge up to the surface. The feeling of that maternal touch mattered so much.

 

 “I wish to be excused!” Dahlia growled as she attempted to control her anger.

“I think that is the most sensible thing you have said all day, child.” Lexa clenched her jaw.

* * *

 

Luna dived out of the way as Dahlia stormed out through the grand doors. She breathed in sharply as she felt a wave of dark energy emanating from the teenager as she fled her mother's company.

Lexa emerged only seconds later, heading in the opposite direction from Dahlia.

“Lexa, Stop!” Luna chased after a nuclear Lexa.

Luna felt her anger, felt a storm of emotion crack as fierce lightning inside Lexa.

“What the hell is this with Dahlia? You know what this is. What have you kept from Clarke and me?  Luna accused.

Luna almost caught up….

The Flou-girl stretched a hand forward. Pulling Lexa back and delaying her escape.

 “Leksa! I will not have two versions of your monstrous Mother charging around my home! Not with our other children in it!”

Lexa stood motionless. Her back to a concerned Luna.

“Enough is enough Leksa. What the hell is going on?”

Lexa paused, turning to face Luna. Her eyes as toxic oil, her skin ashen and vampiric.

 

* * *

 

 

 A seething Dahlia charged straight down the towers grand staircase. Her long legs allowing her to miss out two steps at a time, as she rapidly descended. Half way down the stairs, Dahlia clattered into Zinnia.

“Whoa!” Zinnia held out her arms to steady herself

“Get out of my way!” Dahlia croaked as tears threatened to break free, even though Dahlia attempted desperately to restrain them.

“Dah, wait! What’s wrong?” Zinnia called after her distressed sibling.

Once outside, Dahlia glanced up at the dark winter sky as she moved. Spots of rain landed upon the pretty girls face. What started out as a gentle jog morphed into a desperate run for freedom from this damn tower.

Dahlia felt every raindrop assault her skin as she sprinted towards sanctuary. Through the sodden earth and wet dirt as winter steadily morphed into spring. She knew it was foolish. Her common sense told her that running through ice cold rain wearing nothing but a thin cotton shirt and denim was stupid. She felt the constricting material holding her thigh muscles hostage as she hurtled towards the only place she had ever felt safe. Safe from the pressure of Polis. Safe from her mothers knowing eyes, safe from herself. Dark eyebrows furrowed as those tears finally began to stream over high cheekbones. Dahlia’s harsh words to her mother looped inside her head cruelly.

 

Every tree looked identical as her fashionable boots spattered through quickly forming mud. Every piece of bark looked the same shade as the tall, elegant brunette raced through the forest. If any creature was gifted enough to locate Ally’s hideout though. It was Dahlia-Kom-trikru.

 

* * *

 

Ally lit the final lantern. Adding more brightness to the weak candlelight that marked the outskirts of her forest nook. The ice pup turned her head sharply towards the secret entrance to her hideout. The fine blonde hairs on her arm stood on end as a familiar scent rapidly approached. She quickly descended her high ladder.

Ally’s feet took her only halfway across the green ground as Dahlia emerged from the treeline. Their eyes met instantly.

Dahlia breathed in heavily. Her hair slick back and her whole body soaking wet. Ally stood rooted to the spot as waves of distress flooded from her beautiful friend.

“You know…It's like I'm not _in_ myself when she takes over. Like I'm _outside_ watching myself _through frosted glass_.” Dahlia whispered. Her voice splintered and fragile.

Ally nodded that she understood. That she cared for the never-ending war within between dark and light.

“I need you.” Dahlia panted.

Ally felt her heart skip a beat as Dahlia step towards her.

“I'm tired of having nothing that is my own. I'm sick of denying myself the things I desire.” Dahlia’s teary eyes ran all over the ice-pup as she slowly approached.

Ally remained stationary.

“I don’t know what terrifies me more? The thought that I might turn you into something ungodly, or the fact that you plan to let me.” Dahlia's gravelly voice hummed across the quickly closing safe distance.

“I know.” Ally whispered.

I want you to be mine, Ally of the Azgeda _._ ” Dahlia confessed as she released the buckle of a tightly fastened leather cuff.

“Leave now, if you do not want this. I swear, I will not pursue you.” Dahlia held an honest hand over her heart.

Ally released a breath. She stepped forwards, not back from her Dark princess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	23. The Princess and the Wolf (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For god's sake...don't read this all at once! It will be a while again before I get a chance to update. I am trying to get this fic completed but it is becoming a struggle time wise. Thank you for your patience....

 

 

 

* * *

 

_"Oh, lights go down. In the moment we're lost and found. And I just wanna be by your side, if these wings could fly. Oh, damn these rules, in the moment we're ten feet tall. And how you told me after it all. We'd remember tonight. For the rest of our lives.... D_

 

* * *

 

 

With her arms wrapped tightly around her slender form. Dahlia stood shivering before a concerned Ally.

Ally instantly grabbed for the nearest item of clothing and set towards the frozen girl.

Dahlia held up a dominant hand though, silently ordering Ally to halt.

Ally stopped instantly. Her arm still stretched outward with Lexa’s red sash held loosely in her hand.

The ice pup glanced at the soft material in her grasp. She hadn’t even looked at what she was picking up.

The teen eyed the garment warily, wondering how it had come to be in Ally’s possession? Dahlia’s toxic Ichor dribbled down her forearm, lightly spattering the healthy green grass below.

Silence ensued, Ally ran her eyes over the panting Dahlia. She gave off nothing but waves of tension and stress.

Eventually, Dahlia parted her lips to speak, Ally noted the curious shade of blue the skin had turned.

The teenager's voice seemed shaken, her vocal chords strained with a Clarke like gruffness.

“Every night that goes between, I feel a little less. Every flicker of fear I install and my softness fades away.”

Ally breathed in deeply. Her chest shuddering as she battled to secure her feelings within.

Dahlia watched the ripples of restraint flutter across Ally’s muscled form.  
  
“I’m living through each empty night with this deadly call inside. My light is frail and will soon be buried by the dark. I am so very fearful that all she will ever do is break your heart."

Dahlia took small steps towards the stricken ice-pup.

Ally felt her wolf attempt to emerge. Not in rage, not in anger but in defence of her vulnerable human side crumbling the closer the beautiful Dahlia got..”

Steadily, Dahlia closed the remaining distance. She stood mere inches from Ally. Within grasp, within striking distance, within her orbit.

“I have loved you from the start, Ally. So has she. Even though she will not confess it.” Dahlia sighed as she spoke of her stubborn dark side trapped within.

 

Ally nodded. Her fists clenched by her sides as she sought to control her emotions. Emotions that Dahlia so easily inflamed.

 The ice pups posture was rigid. The gifted girl captured Ally’s hand in her own,  pulling gently at her Mother’s sash, Dahlia found it took little effort to coax the family heirloom free. Dahlia stalled for a moment, her thoughts fixated on the ceremonial accessory, before tossing it back onto Ally’s workbench.

 Taking Ally’s hand in her own, Dahlia placed the Alpha’s hot palm on her chest. Ally felt just how icy cold and wet the material was that clung to the tall girl's frame.

“This darkness inside me, can you feel her below my skin? She scorches and burns me so. To the point I fear all my tears will turn to dust and my eyes will dry up forever.

Ally glanced at her hand as it sank further into Dahlia’s wet shirt.

“So, she can feel? Ally finally spoke. Her tone as uneven as the ground she stood on. Her blue eyes focused on rough skin that finally made contact with Dahlia’s athletic body.

Dahlia laughed. The sound rattled with nothing but despair within her rib cage. A cry for help vibrated through Ally’s tendons.

 With her free hand, Dahlia clutched gently at Ally’s shirt. Tugging her prey in closer towards her dark beauty.

“ _She_ feels _everything_.” Dahlia whispered.

Ally swallowed.

“Everything plays at the same volume for her. Nothing is mute. Death, sex, violence… _even_ _love_. She has no sense of measure or restraint. In any of the above.”

Ally’s posture offered no defence. Dahlia ran her eyes over the stunned wolf as she remained paralysed in her presence.

Dahlia quickly released the loose material of Ally’s shirt. As if the fabric suddenly scolded her. The captivating daughter of Heda took a step back, attempting noble retreat.

“What am I doing to you? My God, I should not have come here.” Dahlia cursed herself.

 Within the extra yard of distance created, Dahlia noted a tear running down the brave Ice-pups cheek. It rolled down the tough exterior of Azgeda flesh. Even from a distance, a spectator would witness the salty droplet tumble down flushed skin.

Dahlia was instantly pulled back to her wounded wolf, she stretched a thumb across Ally’s cheek, smearing the tear into the scars of her ice-nation flesh. Ally’s bottom lip trembled as two cold hands closed around her face, pulling her mouth towards full lips. Dahlia’s eyes flashed a warning of her dark side rising though. Her green irises began to spoil with an inky black stain.

Ally scowled, her brow creasing as she watched her beautiful princess slowly turn.

“I know there is good in your heart.” Ally spoke directly to the dark entity within her love.

Without warning, a darker Dahlia emerged. She grit her teeth to prevent herself from kissing the girl before her. Plump, pouting lips only grazing Ally’s own.

“My heart is dying. I will not let it take yours with it. I care for you too much to condemn you.”

A dark Dahlia sadly smiled, as she traced Ally’s features affectionately with a single sharp claw.

 Ally’s eyes flickered erratically all over the face before her, as an entirely different Dahlia peered out from beneath heavy laden lashes.

“What are you saying?” Ally scrunched her brow further, in a failed attempt to stem additional tears.

A resurfacing lighter Dahlia backed off from the vulnerable ice-pup, realising her darker self-was correct. How could she risk hurting Ally’s heart? Her love, her faith, her only real comrade.

“I’m trying to say goodbye, my friend. I wish I could leave you with something more.” Dahlia held a hand over her heart as she stepped away.

Ally set forward. Something snapping inside at the thought of Dahlia leaving her behind. Just like a thoughtless Echo and heartless Becca had done, all those years ago.

Ally pulled her broken princess into her form. She felt the omega instantly attempt to flee.

“I am dangerous! Do you forget that I am my mother's daughter?”

 Dahlia fought to free herself, causing Ally to hold her tighter.

Ally’s arms looped around the small of Dahlia’s long, toned back. The Omega’s eyes fluttered shut as she felt Ally’s strength battle her own. The fatal girl's forehead lowered to contact with her ice wolfs.

 “I have never been a blue calm sea. I will always be a storm.” Dahlia warned.

Ally nuzzled her brow into Dahlia’s, forcing the falling teen to look at her.

“I am destined to be war, darkness, the commander of death!”  Dahlia sobbed as she wriggled in Ally’s arms.

The heavens above tore open. A rumbling of thunder followed by a flash of white light released a heavy burst of rain, enough to penetrate through the canopy of trees above Ally’s woodland hideout.

Ally licked her lips. Her throat parched and her muscles straining to hold on to the volatile girl. She grappled and fought to bring her lips up to Dahlia’s ear.

“Never mind the darkness, we still can find our way. Nothing last forever, even cold hard winters rain.” Ally quoted.

Dahlia lowered to her knees before the book smart Ally. Her gaze transfixed upwards as if she were looking up at a great tribute.

“There are very few souls on this plain that deserve you, Ally of the Azgeda.”

“I know that.”

Ally looked down upon the kneeling Dahlia.

“Why do you think I waited so long for you?” Ally smiled down at the soon to be Natblida Queen.

Dahlia breathed heavily as her black blood took over her better judgement, her need to take Ally now impossible to ignore. 

I’ve never met a person like you; a person whose understanding of nature, literature and the universe leaves me constantly awed. You possess both simplicity and complexity that does nothing but draw me to you. I could never feel afraid of you, Dahlia... I love you.” Ally confessed.

“You’re swiftly running out of time to get out of here!” Dahlia croaked, as she felt her dark side rush to the surface again.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Ally whispered.

Ally came down to her knees before a darkening Dahlia, gathering up a feminine hand and pulling gently at her remaining leather cuff.

 Ally ran a fingertip across Dahlia’s dark brow. Displacing the gathered water drops.

The teen felt her ichor spill over the tough leather restraint.

Ally leant in close to Dahlia’s ear, offering her words in a kind whisper.

“You’re always beautiful to me. No matter if your eyes shine with the _brightest-Skai or darkest-nite_. Whether the pigment of your skin is the warmest pink hue or the coldest white ice.” Ally paused, her voice splintering like fragile glass.

Ally knelt up higher than the tall girl. That black blood was oozing out and impregnating the earth all around them with an entirely new seed. Dahlia didn’t realise it, but she would transform this forest nook completely before sunrise.

Dahlia's eyes scoured the forest floor. The strangest of sounds reaching her ear as the root system beneath the two fell victim to the corruption of this accursed blood. Ally noticed the change too. The blackening roots and the vicious gathering of black matter within the blades of grass was impossible to ignore.

Ally braved a glance at Dahlia.

With her wet hair cascading downwards in rivers of dark trestles, Those bountiful curls sweeping over broad, shaped shoulders. Ally found herself looking down upon the most alluring of raw animal. Dahlia was nothing short of breathtaking.

Dahlia’s light sides heart skipped a beat as Ally finally released a promise to her love.

“You will _always_ be a princess to _me_.” Ally smiled.

Dahlia was inches from her Azgeda before she knew it. The Alpha’s head quickly lowered down to hide her tears, her blonde hair fallen forward and hiding her face from those intrusive green eyes, as the two knelt together in the soggy earth.

Echo’s brave pup suddenly felt sharp claws breeze over her scalp. Dahlia smiled to herself as blonde streaks swept through her long fingers. Ally’s head tilted back as Dahlia ran her fingers gently through her hair, there was no place to hide now, as Dahlia exposed her face to the night air. Ally wished to feel these fingertips tracing her facial features always. Wanted to look up at this dark angel for all her days.

Slowly, Dahlia peeled herself back from Ally. The Azgeda followed those delicate hands intently. Dahlia’s shaking fingertips slipped underneath her soaked shirt. The cotton material was slowly discarded, exposing firm flesh underneath. Ally could not take her eyes from Dahlia’s long slender form. Her body perfectly toned and her muscles subtly defined beneath taut skin. Ally’s cheeks flushed as Dahlia’s breasts stood to attention with a perfect rounded swell.

Standing slowly, Dahlia sought out her friend’s hands, tugging her up to her feet. The Princess gathered up her wolfs paws and guided her towards a warm makeshift. A fairy tale lodge built by Ally herself.

Once inside and free from the cold rain, Dahlia backed Ally towards the bed. The soft animal furs and gathered linen remained dry and protected within Ally’s secret cabin in the woods. .

“I…I don’t want to hurt you. This blood…it does such strange things. I fear it is not of this world.” Dahlia whispered as her arms looped around Ally’s neck.

“You won’t hurt me.” Ally smiled.

 “If only this world had been filled with more people like you, Ally.”  Dahlia sighed.

Ally dragged in a ragged breath.

“I am nervous. I have not done this before.” She confessed.

The wolf sat back on a bed built for one, as Dahlia effortlessly climbed onto her lap. The most seductive of creatures now wrapped her thighs around Ally’s midsection.

“Did you truly wait all this time just for me?” Dahlia pressed her forehead down into her awkward Ally’s.

“My heart has always belonged to you.” Ally’s eyes fluttered shut.

“I want to be with you tonight” Dahlia’s eyes darkened as her blood dripped steadily onto Azgeda skin.

Ally’s eyes rolled immediately.

“Ally. Are you ok?” Dahlia whispered.

“Yes. It feels…pleasant.” Ally sighed.

“We must be careful. Are you sure this is what you want?” Dahlia asked.

 “Yes. I _always_ want _you, Dahlia_.”  Ally confessed.

 

 

 


	24. The Princess and the Wolf (part Two)

 

Within the confines of a fairy-tale shack in the woods, Dahlia-kom-trikru remained perched on the lap of Ally of the Azgeda.

The teenager swept her long, wet hair to one side, then looked down upon her friend.

Submissive was not a natural state of being for any Natblida Queen.  Dahlia’s instincts pushed her towards dominance quite genetically. Although never once entered by an Alpha, Dahlia had experienced sex with Omega. Zinnia was not the only triplet to be familiar with Luna’s parlour.

At Lexa’s discretion, and as is customary with all royalty, the heir to the throne was not without her courtesans.

But those arrangements had never ended well. They left the young girl confused and ambivalent towards sex. Dahlia’s mind flashed with a memory of her dark side emerging. It was always at the same moment. Just as her insides tightened and that satisfying rush of pleasure reached up through her abdomen. Just as she orgasmed, her volatile dark sister would break free. Her hands grasping around the throat of the woman beneath her, turning Dahlia’s previous tender lovemaking into a predatory strike. Dahlia’s light side would feel conflicted for days after. Knowing deep down, there was more she could have done to interfere and hold her dark side at bay.

 There was something about the other Omega’s responses though. As those controlling dark eyes glared down, as an authoritative tone whispered and snarled vulgar comments into a sensitive ear, the parlour girls sex moistened further. A quickening pulse followed by fast moving, heated blood caused the skin of the parlour girls breasts to flush red and pebble with beads of sweat. The harsher Dahlia’s tone, the deeper she penetrated, the more the parlour girl’s hips rotated, forcing her to impale further upon long fingers.

“Such a good girl.” A dark Dahlia would tease into the panting parlour girls ear.

 A lighter Dahlia was loathe to admit it, but even though tears fell and they pleaded for restraint. These working girls, they loved the dominant force and roughness of her dark alter ego. Their bodies shuddering as they were brought to a shame-filled climax.

Each time her heat began, Dahlia returned to the parlour. The girls again bit at her lips and scratched at her back, hoping to invoke a darker Dahlia once more.

But this was her Ally before her now. Not a nameless parlor girl.

Sharp claws traced down the surface of Ally’s strong Azgeda features, then gentle fingers caressed the sides of her face.

Ally saw everything in slow motion, as heavenly lips descended from above.

Timid pecks quickly morphed into devouring, hunger-driven kisses, as two hearts finally gave into true feelings. Dahlia felt Ally’s affection for her grow firm within her cargo pants. The omega pressed downwards onto her Alpha’s excitement, forcing Ally to push upwards instinctively.

Ally’s hands reached out clumsily and gathered up a handful of Dahlia’s inherited chocolate coloured locks. The girl's hair felt sodden and damp in her grasp.

Dahlia naturally ground her sex against Ally’s firm eagerness to please her. The young girl knew full well, if she were to continue the movement, given the right amount of pressure and angling, she would cum swiftly.

Dahlia gasped as Ally quickly altered their positions. The usually shy Alpha wishing to top her powerful princess.

Dahlia’s head settled in the soft animal fur beneath her. The sprinkling of rain that danced upon the wooden planked roof above only added to the ambience for both social misfits.

Dahlia felt more nervous than ever before.

Her eyes lingered on the bulge that sat within Ally’s cargo pants. Her book smart friend suddenly morphing into something more primal in her eyes.

Ally grabbed for the hem of her own shirt. Within seconds, she had slipped the cotton garment up over her head, revealing a wiry muscled frame to Dahlia’s wandering eyes. Ally’s hands went straight back to the curved hips that had previously straddled her. Dahlia felt nervous hands tremble upon her female form.

 An odd culinary mix and salty release and sweet sugary blood scented the air as, Inevitably, Dahlia’s dark plasma seeped out and smeared Ally’s skin in patches.

“I can feel your blood in my veins.” Ally sighed. Her head tilted back as the most pleasing of sensations crawled up her spine.

Dahlia could not offer a reply; she did not want to even consider her own thoughts and fears. The teen ignored her self-doubt, choosing only to hear Ally’s belt buckle clunk open and the leather slip through its grasp instead. Ally placed her zipper between her thumb and index finger and slowly pulled downwards.

Swiftly, Dahlia removed her own tight-fitting jeans. Her eyes fixated on Ally’s loins.

There was movement, which seemed to rise out of a thicket of curling hair. Ally stood stiff and upright, but was not of a size to frighten Dahlia. Her cock was a pleasing sight, chubby and fat all the way down to the base.  A lust drunk Dahlia gently pulled Ally further into the sprawling layers of fur. Soft fur that conveniently broke both their willing fall. Dahlia’s thighs were spread out to their utmost extension, and discovered between them, the red-centred cleft of flesh, whose lips appeared moist and pulsing.

 “What do you want?” Ally asked.

“I want to feel _you_ inside _me_.” Dahlia returned a delicate reply.

Ally held her breath as she took in Dahlia’s naked form. Her long legs spread out before her. Her stomach flat and decorated with worked muscle. This young girl was a statue of contoured, perfect symmetry. Her nakedness entrancing as it defined the power of femininity.

“I could not have portrayed you in all your natural loveliness... I haven't the skill. No one has.” Ally whispered.

Dahlia smiled at the good-hearted Ally, then her hand snaked down her own form, coming to rest upon her heated sex. Dahlia fingered her entrance, seeking the nectar within to offer a taste to her wolf.

Dahlia’s fingertips trembled as they met with Ally’s lips. She smirked with devilish intent though, as Ally accepted the taste of Dahlia into her mouth.

“You have always made me taste this sweet.” A primal creature smiled behind Dahlia’s green eyes.

Ally furrowed her brow, breathing heavily in and out through her nostrils, as if she were about to ride out into battle.

Dahlia fingers returned to her sex, Ally watched the subtle attempts at tuition from a clearly experienced Dahlia.

“Do you have any idea how many nights I have done this, wishing that it was you pushing inside me.” Ally witnessed two fingers slip inside the girl before her.

Dahlia released a ragged breath as she touched that sensitive spot within. Her head tilting back and a wry smile stretching across her lips.

“ _Fuck_.” She sighed.

Something sparked inside the lonely pup. A creature within taking over, causing Ally to gather up the girl beneath her and kiss her hard, as if she might not ever see her again.

The two lovers tumbled in the sheets. Dahlia wrapped long, slender legs around the middle of her Wolf, as an awkward Ally morphed into the beast that had always resided within her. The beast she had kept at heel for so long as she waited for a woman she would want to call wife.

Ally growled into the crook of Dahlia’s neck. The animal within ordering her Omega to permit her entry. Dahlia smiled wildly up to the wooden rafters of the festive hut. Her sharp fangs glinted in the dying candlelight, then suddenly sank into Ally’s muscled shoulder. She drew blood, causing Ally to suck in a breath. The first-born daughter of Heda did not await a mating bite from an Alpha. She did not wait to be taken possession of.

Dahlia felt Ally’s entire weight upon her, she clutched at the sheets by her sides as her wolf pressed into her. Her thighs parting further as something rounded and firm pushed inside her folds.

Dahlia’s girlish cries echoed in the night air as Ally finally entered her. A pleasing size bottomed out into the snug fit that was Dahlia’s sex.

Ally steadily thrust her hips into Dahlia. Just as she had witnessed the animals of the forest do as she documented their mating behaviour.

Dahlia’s tone changed instantly. Ally fitted her Omega so perfectly that the younger girl couldn’t help but lay back and enjoy the deep penetration from the gratifying width.

Firm upward thrusts seemed to please Dahlia most. The steady intrusion hit that favoured sensitive spot within. The Azgeda was a quick study.

Ally gripped Dahlia’s hips, pulling her in close to her crotch and offering her Omega no escape.

Ally buried her face into Dahlia’s thick hair, burrowing her nose into the long strands and seeking out the flesh of her neck. Ally’s features morphed into her Azgeda wolf. Sharp fangs threatened to break the soft skin of Dahlia’s throat.

The young girl tensed up…

“Don't! My blood…you should not taste it.”

Despite the warning, the alpha bit down firmly, unable to resist natures call to mark her mate.

Dahlia suddenly held steady. The constant penatration and the scent of Ally was too much. That thick, throbbing member pushing in and out was a sensation Dahlia never wished to end. Being taken by her bottled up Ally was just as satifying as the teen imagined.

 A flush of release started out at her raw bundle of nerves and stretched up through her lower abdomen.

Ally held on tight, sinking her teeth further into flesh as she felt Dahlia’s thigh muscles spasm and her back arch. Pleasure forced the teen to holler up to the night sky as she came.

The sweetest sugary taste coated the ice pups tongue. Unable to resist, Ally swallowed for Dahlia. Infection would now flourish within and nature would take her course.

Dahlia’s eye lashes fluttered shut contently as her orgasm lingered on. She peered out drunkenly, as Ally’s face hovered above her own.

“I want you again.” Dahlia purred.

Ally felt every morsel of her self-control disappear. Her insides felt as if they were about to implode. Her bones vibrated, and her blood was boiling in its veins as the stunning Dahlia needed more.

Ally trapped a breath in her throat as she felt that familiar rush and build from her knot. Shame still clung to life within the highly private Ally, but the sheer immense pleasure of being inside Dahlia outweighed any embarrassment.

Dahlia smiled up at her love.

“Cum inside me.” She tempted.

Ally breathed in rapidly through her nostrils, curling her lip at the invite. Her brow furrowed and her eyes illuminated within the candlelight.

Ally instantly sped up her actions as she felt Dahlia’s insides clench and hold her tightly within.

 “Ai tombon ste yun.” Dahlia promised in her mother's native tongue.

“Ai laik yu, ai hodnes.” Ally grunted out her reply.

Ally’s eyes squeezed shut. She felt Dahlia embrace her, those long arms held Ally tight as she finally released into her mate.

The teenager gripped even tighter as she felt rivers of Ally suddenly flood her insides. The alpha then softening as she expended her seed into her mate.

Dahlia smiled lovingly, pleased that she had been the one to take Ally’s virginity. She witnessed the Azgeda roll her eyes and reveal a satisfied smile. Dahlia’s blood now ran riot in her veins.

“Can you feel my blood within you still?”

_Ally found her speech._

_"I felt you before this infection began, I have only ever felt you and no other.” Ally confessed._

_Dahlia noted the extent of dark stains across Ally’s flesh. She hadn’t meant to, but inevitably, Dahlia's plasma had done exactly what came naturally to it, claiming Ally with unstoppable force._

On further inspection of her mate, Dahlia realised the infectious bite had taken her love to another world entirely.

Dahlia permitted a lost Ally to lay against her breasts. Soon the lonely wolf would find slumber in Dahlia’s arms, never to feel isolated again.

 

 A contented Dahlia smiled as she played with Ally’s blonde hair. The ice pup mumbled dazed nonsense. Her mind finally seeing nothing but glorious technicolour as she hallucinated such beautiful, peculiar things.

Dahlia enjoyed this moment more than any other. Her wolf cuddled up close to her and finally having a sense of home.

 The teen closed her eyes and whispered her thanks to the night sky above.

This place, this forest nook on the edge of Polis, so dangerously close to the boundary wall that led straight to the dark heart of the dead zone. This was where Dahlia’s light side resided. The place where her heart truly belonged. Her only sanctuary, her only salvation.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	25. Queso Hermoso

Back in the Great Hall. Luna confronts her Queen.

“You need to talk to me about Dahlia!” Luna demanded.

Leaning her long back against the wall behind, Lexa released a frustrated breath. She didn’t need this. The Queen of clans required solitude to gather her thoughts, she needed space. Unfortunately, Luna was not a woman to just let things go

Much to the cornered Heda’s relief, there came a welcome distraction.

Both Mothers turned to face the sound of approaching footsteps.

“This a bad time?” Raven Reyes nervously approached a flustered Lexa and a highly-strung Luna.

“Shit.” Lexa sighed. After her row with Dahlia, She had forgotten about the mechanic and her need for treatment.

“Raven. This is not the best moment.” Luna grumbled.

“I’ve been waiting hours. I kinda need to be here, you know!” Raven gestured towards Lexa.

“We will do this in my quarters.” Lexa moved away from a combative Luna.

“Whatever.” Raven shrugged as she felt the tension between the two Omega.

Luna grabbed for Lexa’s arm as she directed Raven to her quarters.

“Don’t you dare think we’re done here. We will be discussing Dahlia!” Luna locked eyes with Lexa.

 

* * *

 

In Lexa’s quarters.

Lexa held out her right arm in an extended position. She rolled up the sleeve of her shirt to provide adequate exposure of the planned venepuncture area.

She inspected her forearm for another suitable vein. If this attempt failed, she would have to try with a tourniquet. The Queen began to palpate a chosen vein. Selecting one with a sizeable lumen that felt springy. Steady fingertips tapped gently, hoping to make it easier to visualise and feel beneath the skin.

 Lexa unsheathed a needle. She anchored the vein from below and gently pulled on the skin distal to the insertion site. She Inserted the needle through the skin at a 30-degree angle with the bevel facing upwards, just as Abby Griffin had taught her. Lexa sighed, yet again she did not feel a decrease in resistance as the needle lost the vein.

“Jok!” The queen cursed under her breath.

 Lexa repeatedly pumped her hand into a tightly balled up fist. She felt her addictive plasma rebel. This was not the way the Queen of clans offered up infection. The splits of skin at her wrist continually burst open, hoping that host would accept defeat and infect Raven Reyes the way nature intended, and not with the clinical use of a syringe.

But this was a more controlled way to give Raven her treatment. She was Beta after all. Since that fateful day when the triplets joined the world, and Raven Reyes vulnerable beta skin met with Lexa’s moreish blood. Since that day. Raven had to absorb controlled amounts of Lexa’s ichor, or the seizures would begin. Her body going into shock and rejecting her own blood in the absence of Heda’s.

Lexa closed her eyes tightly shut. Fifteen minutes in, and she was confident Raven Reyes had not stopped to take a breath. After enduring the wrath of both her daughter and her Lover, Lexa desired nothing but silence. Still Raven insisted on sentence after sentence of inane chatter and foolish questioning.

“Why isn't phonetic spelt the way it sounds?”

Lexa inhaled deeply through her nose. A plump bottom lip pulled inwards as she sought to find inner strength.

“You talk a lot, Raven Reyes.” Lexa groaned.

“I’m in your bed, forgive me for being nervous, your highness!” Raven frowned.

“You are perfectly safe, I have never wished to lay hands on your body.”

“Wow!...make a girl feel special .” Raven sank back down into the mattress with a thump.

Lexa ignored Raven's smart remark.

“I see Dahlia gets her good looks from you but her charm from Clarke.”

Lexa suddenly froze...

“Do not bring up Dahlia.” She grumbled.

Raven sat up, arms folded and arching a judgemental brow.

“You know she's after my little ice puppy, right?” 

“Raven, Please. Do not attempt conversation on Dahlia.” Lexa kept her voice low, but there was a stony aspect to her tone.

“She better not turn Ally into a goddamn zombie, that's all I'm...”

Raven was silenced as Lexa slowly turned to face her. Her eyes black and unfeeling.

Raven cleared her throat.

“Sorry.”

Lexa’s bare feet padded on the wooden floor, edging closer to the wired Raven.

“Perhaps we should do this the old-fashioned way.” Lexa kept her eyes on the tech genius as she reached the side of the bed.

“I... I thought Abby said that was a bad idea?”

“I need rest, Raven...and this is not working. Any longer and I fear you will suffer a seizure.”

“The syringe. Try again.” Raven swallowed.

“It's not working,” Lexa said, coldly.

Raven deliberated. It wasn't the same. A vivid memory remained trapped in the engineer's mind of Lexa’s blood soaking straight into her skin. A feeling of possession, of ownership, a sense of being overpowered.

Taking minute shots of Lexa’s euphoric plasma was nowhere close to the pleasure Raven had felt that day so long ago.

Lexa read the expression on  Raven's face, saw the submittance in her eyes as she relived the previous dalliance with **that** blood on her flesh. Suddenly, Lexa felt her better judgement kick in.

 “My emotions are not stable. I'm not thinking with a rational mind.”

Lexa paused … her head held briefly in her hands.

 “You should not be alone with me, Raven.” The downhearted Queen mumbled.

Lexa turned to leave, only to feel a trembling hand grab at her own. The addict in Raven rushed to the surface and halted her benefactor's retreat.

 “Will it make you feel better? If you infect me old -skool style? Maybe we can help one another out, you know?” Raven held Lexa’s gaze.

“It's too risky.” Lexa whispered.

 “Lexa. Please, I don’t feel so good. It’s been almost six weeks.”

“My blood is seductive, what if you become amorous? You're Klark’s best friend. She will not approve.” Lexa pulled her hand out from Raven’s.

“Amorous?…is it 1846? I swear, Lexa. You're like a thousand years old.”

Lexa frowned.

“The Victorian era was not a thousand years ago, it was…

“Oh, my God!  Infect me already!” Raven sank forwards onto the bed.

“You will want sex.” Lexa arrogantly suggested.

A frustrated Raven threw her arms into the air.

“Well, I've slept with your Brother, I might as well get the full set! You got a cousin I don’t know about?” Raven turned and fluffed the pillows behind her.

“You’re an exhausting woman,” Lexa commented.

“Really?” Raven scoffed, as she ran her eyes up and down Lexa.

“Indeed!” Lexa replied.

“You know what, beauty queen! Don’t go presuming ill get my freak on with you anyway! You're not my type. You're way too…bossy. You’re an exhausting woman as well you know!” Raven accused.

Lexa scowled, clenching her jaw in response to Raven’s famous sass.

“See! Look at that pouty face.” Raven pointed.

“You’re so mean, so strict, so ...so authoritative.” The mechanic exhaled a warm breath.

Raven suddenly felt her temperature soar

Lexa quirked a brow as a thirsty-looking Raven licked her lips.

“You're all cheekbones and green eyes! Really... gorgeous green eyes.” Raven swallowed.

“Jesus…why it is getting so hot in here. Open a goddam window!”

“It’s February!” Lexa growled.

Heda's eyes went wide as the beta suddenly peeled off her shirt. The Queen instantly turned her back on a bare-breasted Raven.

Raven blurted out a laugh.

“Are you kidding me? A frigid Lexa?  You’re usually a walking orgasm!

“My blood is potent.” Lexa’s eyes squeezed tightly shut as her dark plasma burnt through her veins in response to Raven’s naive submittance before her.

“But just think of my luxurious latin shade mixed with your killer bone structure, our kid will be the Gucci of babies!” Raven mocked.

“You should not joke about such things. My blood is unpredictable, and you're only beta.”

“Only Beta! Again, such a fucking charmer.”

Lexa’s eyes narrowed.

“Just so you know. I'll be calling our first born, Queso Hermoso.” Raven said, proudly.

 The frustrated Queen shook her head in despair.

“Every clan should feel relieved that your understanding of science is superior to your grasp of Spanish!” Lexa snapped.

Raven’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“You’re aware of course that you just said - beautiful Cheese?”

“Damn it! Why do you know everything?”

“Because I am a thousand years old, apparently.” Lexa threw down her tourniquet. Would this day never come to an end?

 “Lexa. For god's sake. Just Infect me! Before I die from a seizure in my best friend’s bed. I think the memory of my corpse in Clarke’s sheets might bother her more than me rubbing one out on your knee cap …amorously!” Raven threw off the bedding.

Lexa released a defeated sigh. Today had been too much. Dahlia’s hurtful words remained in her memory banks, like a stuck needle on an old record player. Dahlia's spiteful tone repeated within the proud mother's thoughts.

Lexa blew out a weary breath.

“For the record… I think this is a terrible idea.”

“I’m full of them…Daddy! Corrupt me already, Moma’s got the shakes!” Raven’s addiction to Lexa’s blood was now dictating most of the words that left her lips..

Giving into her darker nature and better judgement, The Queen knelt up on the bed. Raven swallowed as Lexa’s appearance changed before her eyes. An otherworldly creature now crawled towards the helpless mechanic.

A bloodstained hand reached out steadily towards Raven's flat stomach, pressing softly into soft skin. That honey scent captured Raven’s common sense and left her virtually paralysed and intoxicated. Lexa closed her eyes as she awaited that familiar addictive sensation of claiming another so completely. Within the next few seconds, Raven Reyes would be taken to the heights of euphoria by Lexa’s mind-altering Plasma.

Thankfully, both women were saved from themselves at the last moment.

“Leksa! What the hell are you doing?” Luna slammed the door behind her.

 


	26. She cuts me right back down to size.

_"Medusa smiles, Judas lips. Open arms and fingertips. Love bites and recompense." L_

 

* * *

 Lexa immediately retracted her hand and faced her accuser. She watched Luna storm towards the bed. The flou-girls eyes blazed with anger and worst of all, disappointment.

“Raven Reyes! Really?”  Luna snapped.

Luna snatched up the tourniquet from the bed, Pulling Lexa away from Raven as the mechanic struggled to stay conscious. Luna was not gentle as she ripped up Lexa’s sleeve. Attaching the tourniquet and tugging with excessive force on purpose. Lexa knew the aggressive tightening action was intentional. Her dark eyes flashed as Luna looked down upon her.

“Clearly, Dahlia is not the only one that needs to show restraint.” Luna chastised.

“On the day you harm Raven Reyes, there will be a very long line of people waiting to exact their revenge, Klark and I will be at the front of that queue!”

“It’s what she wanted.” Lexa stated.

With a fresh needle unsheathed, Lexa did not react as the sharp tip was plunged into her skin. Luna did not miss her target as she withdrew several millilitres of Lexa’s plasma.

“She is beta!. Your blood has already altered her biology. What would traditional infection have brought to her? You must not Leksa!” Luna scolded.

“ I am not thinking straight.” Lexa ran a hand through her hair.

“No! You most certainly are not! I will administer this, then we’re discussing Dahlia. What on earth has she said to you?” Luna narrowed her eyes, suspiciously.

Lexa was left to stew, her face sullen with a child-like pout about it.

Raven murmured incoherently as Luna approached the bed. That maternal instinct kicked in as the Flou-girl ran her hand gently up Raven's arm.

“My poor little falling bird. We must get you back in the air again.”

Groggily, Raven lifted her head to speak. She ran glazed eyes over the blurred image of her unrequited love.

“You know, for an empath. You have always been really shitty when it comes to reading _my_ feelings.” Raven murmured.

Luna sadly smiled.

“That is not true. I only wish I felt the same. Although of late,  I am beginning to question my taste in women.” Luna scowled over at her stoic Queen.

Luna sanitised raven’s skin, then inserted the needle into a vein.

“Time to fly, little bird.” Luna kindly smiled.

Raven sighed seconds later as Lexa’s blood entered her system. A look of peace and satisfaction suddenly spread across her features.

“Oh, I know how good that feels.” The cosmically connected mother moved thick dark hair from Raven’s face.

Luna then tucked her former lover in, leaving a soft kiss on her brow.

She then turned to face a darkening Lexa.

“Outside!” Luna ordered.

 

* * *

 

Within the chorus of heavy breathing, Lexa heard only the relentless assault of rain attack the windows of the tower. The gale outside picked up its pace as the trees shook angry fingers at the sky, their branches bending and breaking in the wind. The irony that the weather outside matched the volatile climate inside the tower was not lost on Lexa.

“We’re talking about Dahlia!”

“I will not hear this again.” Lexa grumbled

“Leksa! I accept your defensive manner and silences. I do not challenge your frequent arrogance and to be quite frank - utter pigheadedness! But Dahlia…I love that child as if she were my own, but she is potentially a threat to Polis.

Lexa ground her teeth together as Luna pushed her ever so close to visible upset.

“Her gifts have accelerated way beyond even yours, haven’t they?”

Lexa did not reply, she only offered Luna a raised jaw and regal stance.

“For years now I have held my tongue, I will do that no longer.”

“Clearly.”  Lexa quirked a brow.

“Her aura is impossible to read, even for me. Why?” Luna demanded a reply.

Lexa turned, clasping her hands behind her back as she strolled casually away from an inquisitive Luna.

“She has been coming to the parlour since she was fifteen years of age. There is nothing that goes on there that I don’t know about.” Luna called after her stubborn lover.

Lexa stopped dead in her tracks, her long shadow stretching up the walls as she took a deep breath. The struggling Queen briefly glanced back over her shoulder towards Luna.

“When she leaves, my girls are broken, bruised and intoxicated.”

“Yet still they invite her back into their beds, even after such dubious consent. Just as you accept me back. You’re not adverse to a firm touch yourself if I recall.” Lexa coldly stated as she turned to face her lover.

Luna inhaled deeply and clenched her fists. It took all of her light to not strike Lexa across the face.

“Do not turn this into the complexities of our sexual relationship. This is about Dahlia. Not us!” Luna yelled.

Lexa’s eyes scanned the walls, as if looking for a way to escape Luna’s barrage of questions.

“This is what you do every time, Leksa. You either try to infuriate me or seduce me. That way, you avoid talking about Dahlia.”

Lexa released a sigh, knowing full well Luna was correct.

“Do you not see what this secrecy does? It is causing a rift between us and makes Klark look like a damn fool!”

“That is not my intent.” Lexa’s face saddened.

“I know that! Because I know you! My God Leksa, your self-indulgent, arrogant bullshit still enrages me!” Luna shoved Lexa back several steps.

 Lexa stumbled yet remained on her feet, she turned away from Luna. Her emotions pushed to the point she felt tears swell in her eyes and her chest tighten under stress.

“Stop this Leksa! Stop trying to fight the world alone!” Luna found herself staring at Lexa’s back, yet again.

“Your recent behaviour is scaring me just as much as Dahlia’s. If you persist on walking these halls, hand in hand with your Mothers black spirit, then I will make sail away from these shores. I promise you, Leksa. I will take all of our young ones with me. Amina included.”

Lexa turned quickly to face Luna, her hard eyes glaring at the fiercely protective Mother, believing her threat to be credible.

“Perhaps that is what you want? Then you and Dahlia can be left alone to stand in the smouldering ashes of Polis together.” Luna whispered to her love.

Lexa allowed a tear break free, it made its path over her cheekbone, before trickling down a flushed cheek.

“Do _not_ create an unsafe environment for my babies to live in.”

“I would never do that.” Lexa wiped her cheek.

“Leksa, there is no other woman I love more than you. I have always loved you. But if you threaten the safety of my children I will _leave_ you where you stand. My love for them will always come before my love for you.”

“As it should.” Lexa nodded.

“What is happening to Dahlia? Please talk to me.”

Lexa lowered her head. Thinking how to best explain the complicated Dahlia.

_Finally….Lexa broke._        `

“She battles inside with the two purest forms of spirit. Light and dark. The struggle is that simplistic. There is no grey.” Lexa calmly confessed to Luna.

Luna shook her head in confusion.

“The ancient Greeks called it alter ego…” Lexa explained.

“Other self.” Luna translated.

“In the old world, they would have thought her mentally ill. There are so many appropriate medical diagnoses. I have read everything, to the point there is nothing else left to read.  Dissociative identity disorder, multiple personality disorder, bipolar, schizophrenia. These mental illnesses are characterised by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personalitystates. These states alternately show in a person's behaviour, accompanied by memory impairment for important information not explained by ordinary forgetfulness. 

 Luna’s brow relaxed. Her judgmental expression morphing into empathy.

“Why have you kept this from myself and Klark? Why again have you sought to battle the world alone?” Luna’s tone warned of pending tears.

“Because it’s my fault!” Lexa snapped, her voice raised in volume.

“She is my daughter. She was born from me. I have made her this way. I have passed this curse onto her. I have made her different. Because I am different!”

“So is Klark,” Luna whispered, reaching out a hand to her little Lexa.

“But Klark is made of nothing but light, as are you.” Lexa sadly smiled.

“I am fighting the same battle as she. The battle of restraint, control, propriety. I have been managing this in Dahlia. She holds her dark side at bay. I know she can control it.”

Luna shook her head fervently at Lexa.

“It is not the way of the spiritual realm, Leksa. One spirit will always try to win out over the other, totally.”

 “Dahlia is not the same as you. You are telling me she is split in two. You were not. Your light always shone through stronger than dark. Your mother’s blood, that was the only thing that triggered a change in you, a poison you have since purged.”

“Yet again, you undervalue your part in my redemption. Dahlia is me without you or Klark!”

Luna sighed.

“Leksa…you’re not a monster without us.”

“Yes, I am!” Lexa stalked towards Luna.

“Still you choose to disregard that, in truth, I am the Queen of the Natblida. I am the Queen of the 14th Clan. I am not like you, I am not like Klark.”

“Leksa!…we have **_never_** once forgotten what you are or that you’re different.” Luna snapped, pointing a finger at Lexa.

“When faced with my demons. It is still my first instinct to clothe them and feed them, rather than resist their chants for violence and destruction.”

“But you resist?” Luna Kept her eyes on Lexa’s as she approached.

“I do. It is you and Klark that make that possible. Our children and love that make that possible.”

“Dahlia _will_ find love, Leksa.” Luna argued.

“I believe she already has.” Lexa replied.

Luna appeared puzzled for a moment, then it came to her.

“The Azgeda! Your little guardian angel.” Luna smiled as the irony was too good to be true.

“Yes.” Lexa smiled as she thought fondly of Ally.

“I have seen the way Dahlia looks at her. It is the same sparkle of light that lingers in Klark’s eyes when she looks at you and I. Dahlia _is_ in _love_ with Ally.”

“Then love will save her, Leksa. Love will make her healthy in light as it does you.”

“My only concern is that it is all too late. She is so unstable, Luna. Just one event might push her into darkness forever.”

 

 

 

 


	27. The chain.

 

 

 

 

_"And if you don't love me now, you will never love me again. I can still hear you saying, never break the chain."  Lx_

* * *

 

 

 On the far side of the tower

Jago’s bulky arms struggled and strained under the great weight above him. His grip tightened as a determined blast of air burst from his lips.

Zinnia bellowed out her encouragement.

“One more bro, come on! I can lift twice that weight.”

From the sidelines, Anima clapped out her encouragement. Her chalk coated hands plumed with a cloud of white dust as she willed her brother on.

“Argh!” Jago sounded out a determined cry.

His face morphed into his inner wolf as he grit his teeth and completed lift number ten.

“Nice!” Zinnia praised.

The irksome blonde assisted her panting brother. Steadying the metal bar and attached weights. She replaced the gym equipment back into the holder.

“You liar! You cannot lift twice that weight!” Jago collapsed back down.

“I can when I change.” Zinnia bragged.

“Have you changed?” Jago suddenly took notice.

“Not as fully as sire, but I’ve felt my body alter. It makes me noticeably stronger. You?”

“I must confess, I am much the same. In rage, in passion, my body attempts to alter, but never fully.”

“It’s all Dahlia’s fault! She got all the good stuff from Mom then fed us the scraps in the womb. Greedy fat fucker.” Zinnia frowned.

The comment earned a smile from Jago.

“She is hardly fat sister. Her beauty outshines even Mothers. Greedy... perhaps?” He conceded.

“What about you, soulful one? Mother nature and the cosmos your bitch yet?” Zinnia asked Amina.

“I have seen some changes recently, yes. The older I become, the more my gifts evolve. Not to the extent of Dahlia’s though.” Amina admitted,

“Have either of you seen development in the other pups? What about your fellow Trifecta, Amina?” Jago asked.

“Yeah? What do you little fuckers actually do?” Zinnia scoffed.

“I am not sure? I think our power is perhaps collective.” Amina explained.

“Collective?” Jago found himself intrigued.

“Yes. It is something my Mother has been exploring.”

“Well, you little freaks need to do something productive. Luna has popped out enough of you!” Zinnia laughed.

“Hey!” Amina tossed her workout gloves at a smirking Zinnia.

All three-sibling turned to face the doorway, as a flushed Quint entered the exercise area.

“Look! Your husband is home, and you haven’t even made his dinner.” Zinnia goaded.

“And you still reek of Alana Blake. She has a distict perfume.” Jago smirked.

Zinnia instantly blushed.

“Hello, Quint. What can we do for you?” Jago smiled still at Zinnia.”

“I could not reason with them.” Quint struggled to catch his breath.

Jago’s smile dropped.

“Reason with whom?”

“Nyko and his men. They seek to plot a coup against your mother’s rule. You must warn her. They are heading for the containment wall. Natblida have been spotted breaching the barrier. As a show of strength, they plan on executing them.”

“Natblida have stepped into Trikru land?” Zinnia interrupted.

“Yes. A female and two males. Nyko is taking things into his own hands. He will aim to do your sister harm if she intervenes.”

“Dumb fuckers. His little coup plotters will be dead before the first one hits the ground. Nobody can take Dahlia when she turns.” Zinnia appeared almost proud of a dark Dahlia’s frightening skill as a warrior.

“We have to warn Mother.” Jago leapt off the workout bench. A thankful hand placed affectionately on his lover’s stiff shoulder.

 

* * *

 

 

 Back in the doorway to the Great Hall

 

Luna reached forward, her fingertips softly clawing at the stiff collar of Lexa’s shirt. Her brow nuzzled affectionately into her Queens. Lexa allowed a tired, shuddering breath to leave her lips.

“Please, Leksa. Do not think yourself a monster without us.” Luna whispered, before landing a swift kiss on Lexa's cheek.

Lexa felt for Luna’s belt buckle. She gently tugged her lifelong friend in closer. Then two Omega swayed aimlessly in the corridor before the entrance to the great hall.

A loyal guard did not alter his stance or deviate his sight line as the two women drew close. Their hips in symmetry as they pawed at one another in the empty silence.

“I am the one that taught you to dance this way, even when the music has ended.” Luna smiled as she pressed her nose into Lexa's cheek.

“Yes, you did.” Lexa brought her hands around Luna’s middle, her grip finally taking a hold on her lover’s hips. The two omegas still lightly stepped from one foot to the other, Cheek to cheek, arms carelessly wrapped around one another.

“I see she has hurt your heart, my love. What can she have said to you?” Luna rested her head against Lexa’s. The soulful woman felt only a confessing nod from the wounded Mother before her.

“She said that she wishes I was not her Mother.” Lexa sadly sighed.

“She does not mean that.” Luna half smiled.

Luna leant back slightly so she might view Lexa’s face. Intrigued green eyes met with self-conscious brown.

“What is it?” Lexa asked.

Luna rested her head against her Queen’s yet again. She tenderly rolled her forehead against Lexa’s furrowed brow. Her voice escaped as nothing more than a weakened whisper.

“I am pregnant again.” She confessed.

Lexa scanned Luna’s whole form.

“Are you terribly disappointed? I know you do not wish to bear more pups yours...”

“I could never be disappointed with you.” Lexa interrupted.

Luna’s mouth fell upon her Queen’s instantly. Two sets of pouting omega lips softly squishing up against the other. A beautiful moist connecting of flesh serenaded the still stationary guard. Luna could so easily lose herself in these moments with her Queen. She and Lexa would kiss for what felt like hours in private.

 A deep-rooted tightness built inside as intrusive female tongues duelled and fought to invade the warm sanctuary of the others mouth. Luna sighed as Lexa’s skill in the art of kissing had never faded from being teenagers. 

“I know what you need to heal this aching heart.” Luna’s hands wandered.

The Flou-girl felt her crotch moisten as Lexa took control. She startled as her back contacted with the wall behind. Lexa’s hands acting like two agile assassins as they grabbed at Luna’s wrist, pinning her hands above her head.

Lexa’s mouth fell dangerously close to Luna’s throat.

“Leksa…we need to find a bed.” Luna managed.

She sobbed aloud as Lexa’s teeth bit with moderate force into tense neck muscle.

Still, the guard did not change his posture.

“Leave us!” Luna called to the demonic looking warrior.

From beneath his skeletal mask, the guard did not respond. His back still stood strong as steel, and his wolfish eyes focused on nothing but the wall ahead. He would only respond to an order from his beloved Commander.

Luna’s eyes rolled as Lexa’s hand sneaked down the front of her pants. Lexa impolitely seeking out the sensitive swollen flesh within.

“We can never break this chain between us.” Lexa growled.

Luna let out a girlish cry for release as Lexa easily found her prize.

Luna’s eyes fell again to the silent witness. Her trembling hand grabbed at a worked forearm as Lexa’s hand pushed further down into her pants.

Lexa stalled, her eyes were as dark as night as she snarled at a reluctant Luna. She followed the flou-girl’s concerned stare though. Her distraction was displeasing the Queen of the clans greatly.

Lexa locked eyes with the loyal guard.

“You’re dismissed, soldier!” She firmly commanded, as she pressed into Luna, trapping her lover against the brickwork behind.

The guard instantly responded, his stiff, rigid posture immediately animating into obedience.

“Happy now?” Lexa smirked.

“Not yet.” Luna teased.

Lexa wasted no time in pushing her tips beyond the soaked material of Luna’s undergarments. Luna stiffened naturally as fast fingers sought to enter her. A satisfied groan left Luna’s lips as she felt Lexa fill her insides. Her long digits thrusting upwards in dominant singular movements. Luna’s head hit the wall each time Lexa’s muscled limb penetrated her. She almost believed her feet may leave the ground, such was the force of Lexa upward strokes.

* * *

 

 

_Little be known to the two heated mothers, but from an adjoining corridor. Three panicking teens approached._

 

 

 


	28. Mommy time.

 

 

Luna felt her insides bow and curtsey to her powerful monarch. The deep jabbing movements of Lexa’s three fingers, coupled with the pressure from a trapped wrist upon her clit, forced Luna quickly towards release.

Luna felt tears rolling freely down her cheeks, such was the intensity and depth of the penetration.

_“I hate being at odds with you.”_ Luna’s lips met with Lexa’s, as the two women made up the only way they knew how.

Neither mother noticed the wide blue eyes and flushed cheeks from the corridor opposite.

Zinnia stepped back quickly and closed the door. Only to find Jago and Amina clatter in the back of her.

“Zinnia. You idiot! We must talk to mother.”

“The Moms are…kinda busy!”

 “Gods, she’s my hero!” Zinnia looked up to the sky in praise of her sensible mother’s rebellion to common decency.

“Busy?” Amina quizzed.

“Yeah. Like real busy!” Zinnia wiggled her brow.

“Stand aside!” Jago demanded.

Amina suddenly rolled her eyes. Catching on to what Zinnia meant.

“In the public corridor? For all to see?” Amina asked.

“Yup.” Zinnia winked.

Amina sank her face into her hands.

Jago continued, his ears closed to what his sisters were saying. His mission into the main corridor did not last long. He retired swiftly. His back blocking the door, as if a great beast may try and enter after him. Zinnia folded her arms and grinned at her mortified brother.

“They’re busy indeed.” His cheeks flushed.

Luna’s cries suddenly reached the furthest end of the corridor, as Lexa brought her to orgasm. Luna praised her Queens name for all to hear.

Amina instantly brought her hands to her ears.

“There is not enough therapy in all the clans for this.” She tightly closed her eyes, as if that would somehow aid in blocking out her parent’s lovemaking.

“Wow! Mom really doesn’t give a shit today.” Zinnia sounded out her disbelief as Luna still called out, desperately.”

“I wonder how many other people’s Mothers behave like heated dogs in the street?” Amina raised a brow.

“Is it any wonder I do not appreciate the female form.” Jago mirrored his sister’s stance. His sizeable male hands covering his ears.

Silence abruptly filled the corridor.

All three siblings looked apprehensively to the other.

“Do we think they’re…done?” Zinnia grimaced.

Jago bravely held the doorknob in his hand. He slowly twisted the wooden sphere. He turned it so carefully. As if an explosive reaction awaited if he rushed the process.

The door creaked open just an inch. Three heads in descending order of height peered through the narrow gap.

All three-siblings screamed in fright, as an authoritative hand pushed through, ripping open the door from the other side.

“What are you doing?” Lexa snapped.

All three teens held a hand over their hearts. Their cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Mother…we.” Jago struggled under Lexa’s commanding glare.

“I just wanna say…you’re so fucking awesome, Mom.” Zinnia dared.

“Zinnia!” Lexa growled through gritted teeth.

“Sorry. You’re so fucking awesome, Your Majesty.” Zinnia corrected.

Lexa shook her head at her potty-mouthed Alpha daughter. “What do you all want?” Lexa snapped, her dalliance with Luna far from at an end.

Luna appeared behind Lexa. Amina recovered her eyes as she witnessed her birth mother fixing her belt.

“Mother. We have valuable information on a threat to security. From a reliable source.” Jago pipped up.

“Speak it swiftly then.” Lexa eyed a still aroused Luna.

“Quint, he says a small group of your imperial guard seek to plot a coup.”

“Is that so? Why has Quint come to my son and not his Queen with this.”

“Jago is his Queen.” Zinnia muttered under her breath.” Earning an elbow to the ribs from Amina.

Lexa pretended she had not heard the comment. Even though her Natblida gifts made it impossible for her not to.

“Where are they now?” Lexa queried.

“They’re heading for the containment wall.”

“Klark is patrolling the wall tonight!” Luna suddenly worried.

Lexa barged passed her three children. She snatched up a radio from the holder on the wall.

“How many guards?” Luna asked from the shelter of the corridor.

“I don’t know?” Jago confessed.

Zinnia frowned suddenly.

“Mother?”

“What is it?” Lexa lowered the radio from her mouth.

“Where is Dahlia?” Zinnia panicked.

Lexa’s eyes met with Luna’s instantly.

“If the guards are not careful. They will meet with more than just sire and a truckload of Guarda. Dahlia was distraught when I last saw her.”

Silence filled the room

“Leksa…we have to warn Klark that Dahlia is unstable. It is time to tell her the truth!” Luna demanded.

 

 


	29. I need you

 

Dahlia awoke with a start. Her body feeling weighted down by a heavy form sprawled across her.

The teen smiled as she took in the face of her capture. Ally’s arm lay across Dahlia’s middle, her right leg hooked up over her thighs. The early hour possessive hug did not bother the young Dahlia. She simply ran a hand through the soft blonde hair that always tempted her fingers so.

Ally stirred as she felt the tender touch.

“Good morning.” Dahlia’s husky voice sounded out.

Ally slowly lifted and took in the scene at hand. She and Dahlia lay together in a makeshift cot, built in all truth for only one. Ally’s eyes were immediately drawn to the Omega’s naked body.

Dahlia’s hair was wild and unkempt. Her eyeliner smeared and her hips covered in fingertip shaped bruises. Still, Ally thought her to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Silence momentarily gripped the newly mated pair, their eyes searching one another’s features as if the shift from friend to lover made the other look different somehow.

The peculiar pup felt morning after awkwardness take over.

“Does our copulation mean that book club is over?” Ally innocently asked.

Dahlia let out a loud laugh.

“No. it does not. What an odd thing to say.” Dahlia kissed her Ally gently on the lips then smiled up at her happily.

Ally furrowed her brow as Dahlia grinned back at her.

The stunning teen propped up her head with her hand, as she lay causally by Ally’s side.

“I will tell you, the last book I read was called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Dahlia offered.

“I have read that, many years ago.” Ally replied.

“I found myself in great empathy with the wicked witch.” Dahlia playfully wiggled her eyebrows.

Ally ran a fingertip across Dahlia’s midriff, the worked segments of muscle beneath flinched, as Ally tickled the belly of the powerful Dahlia. Ally struggled to find the words to praise Dahlia’s post-sex beauty.

“You are in excellent physical condition.” Ally spoke.

Dahlia bit a lip to stifle another laugh.

“That’s just what every girl wants to hear.” Dahlia teased through a toothy smile.

“There are not many Omega with your sporting physique.”  Ally’s eyes remained on Dahlia’s well-defined abdominal muscles.

“Well, there are not many mothers that would insist their daughter work out twice a day from the age of six.” Dahlia groaned.

“She taught me how to twirl a staff and unsheathe a sword before teaching me how to use cutlery,” Dahlia smirked when she thought of her taskmaster warrior Mother.

Ally still caressed Dahlia’s toned muscles.

“Oh, you really like that.” Dahlia whispered into Ally’s' ear as she deliberately tensed her stomach.

“As I said. You’re very athletic, for an Omega.” Ally felt Dahlia nibble gently at her ear.

“Well, You're very considerate and gentle, for an Alpha. Perhaps that is why I desire you so. I ordinarily find myself dreaming of Omegas in my bed, not Alpha.”

“Omegas…Plural?” Ally teased, suddenly finding her confidence.

That drew a great smile from Dahlia. Ally felt that familiar tug at her heartstrings as Dahlia smiled that way.

“Plural, Ha! Is that what I said?  Dahlia _blushed, hiding her face in her hands then peeping out from between long fingers._

_“Indeed.” Ally teased._

_“That_ is perhaps learnt behaviour from my parents. Their harem grows daily. I once saw three other Omega lounging in my Mother’s furs. I think Heda has taught herself to use sex to temper her darker nature. Apparently, her darkness runs in vast quantities, if she needs so many women all at once.” Dahlia rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think I could engage in such activities.” Ally frowned.

Dahlia reached out, pulling Ally closer to her.

“There is not a chance I am sharing you.” Dahlia’s eyes darkened.

“I am most pleased to hear that. I do not wish to be portioned out!” Ally grumbled.

Dahlia laughed at the look of terror on Ally’s face.

“Luna’s parlour? You’re very…skilled.” Ally suddenly asked, forcing Dahlia to drop her smile.

Dahlia’s mind flashed with an image of twisted female forms that perspired and writhed under her forceful touch.

“Can we talk about something else?” Dahlia swallowed.

“Ok….” Ally paused.

“Do you think your triplet siblings will be upset by our union? I factor their feeling in often, the three of you are so connected.”

 “Oh, Gods. Is this where you tell me you’re secretly in love with Zinnia?” Dahlia offered a cheeky smile.

Ally’s' face fell into a look of disgust. As if she had been served worm-riddled meat in a restaurant.

Dahlia exploded into glorious laughter.

The teen shot forward and pulled her peculiar Ally on top of her.

“You’re so very strange.” Dahlia managed between giggles.

“I think Jago is much prettier than Zinnia.” Ally was starting to enjoy the banter with her new mate.

“Oh, goodness. I would say he is much prettier than me!” Dahlia allowed a hint of jealousy to litter her tone.

“No, he isn't. You're the most beautiful woman in all the clans.”

Dahlia brought a playful finger to Ally’s lips, making a soft hushing sound.

“Secretly... I do know that.” A Lexa like arrogance came over Dahlia.

Ally suddenly grimaced.

“Are you ok?” Dahlia instantly brought her hands to steady a swaying Ally.

“There is no other I want. Alpha, Omega or Beta. I have only ever wanted you.” Ally’s eyes rolled

“And I you.” Dahlia swept blonde hair free from Ally’s face.

“What is wrong?” Dahlia still inspected her wolf.

“I feel…odd.” Ally confessed.

Dahlia turned over Ally’s wrist. A network of black veins spiralled up her arm aggressively.

“Should I fetch you some water?” Dahlia asked.

“Perhaps.” Ally groggily nodded.

Dahlia lifted the thick animal fur. Her bare feet padded quickly along the wooden planks of Ally’s hut. Ally sank back into the bed as nausea took hold of her.

Dahlia quickly descended the steps of the enchanting fairy tale lodge. Only to find herself screeching to a halt!

“What on earth?” She shuddered.

Dahlia couldn’t help but turn a full 360 degrees as she took in her surroundings. The forest nook had altered drastically.

The clatter of a weight falling dragged Dahlia straight back over to the bed.

“Ally!” Dahlia yelled

Ally convulsed violently on the ground. Dahlia sought to steady her mate. Dropping to her knees and swooping up Ally’s tremor ridden form into her own.

“Please stop! Ally please!” Dahlia worried.

Dahlia looked up to the heavens above, her love shaking in her arms as her body reacted to Dahlia’s blood leaving her system.

Dahlia clung tighter to Ally, her mind spiralling and confused.

She glanced across at the radio.

There was only one person that Dahlia wanted by her side, only one person’s support and guidance she craved. Only one person’s love and protection.

 

“Mother…please. I know you can feel me. I need you.” Dahlia cradled Ally.

 

 


	30. Follow the Yellow brick road (part one)

 

_"The wickedest witch that ever there was. The enemy of all of Oz."_

* * *

 

 Back at the tower, Lexa prepared to aid Clarke.

 

 “Prepare the horses, we leave immediately.”

“Yes, Mother.” All three siblings bowed, then rushed for the stables.

Lexa headed for the exit with Luna in tow, something made her stop in the doorway though.

“What is it?” Luna whispered.

Lexa glanced across at the abandoned radio that sat upon a rickety table top. A cosmic rush and spike in mother’s intuition starting out at the base of her spine and stretching up like wildfire toward the base of her neck. Lexa felt every tiny hair stand on end.

“Leksa! What is it?” Luna asked again.

Heda’s eyes narrowed, as if she were sensing a presence within the static and silence.

Steadily, Lexa crept towards the idle radio. Luna watched on curiously as the seemingly vacant airways began to crackle. A low buzz humming out and drawing Lexa closer to the communication device.

Lexa’s thighs bumped gently into the table surface, her eyes were so focused on the handset, she hadn't realised how close she had drawn up to the simple wooden furniture.

An eerie silence suddenly befell the airways, making the radio briefly mute.

Impressed, Luna's eyebrow arched, as a small voice came through from the other side.

“Mother!”

Lexa quickly snatched up the radio.

“Dahlia!” Lexa closed her eyes as she cradled the radio in her hot hands.

“I need you...” Dahlia croaked.

“Where are you?” Lexa paced the room.

Luna placed a soft reassuring hand on Lexa’s shoulder from behind.

“I think… I think I've hurt her.” Dahlia sobbed.

Lexa frowned, then her eyelids fluttered shut.

“Ally?” Lexa whispered.

 “The forest itself seeks to claim her.” Dahlia kicked out at another vine that sought Ally out.”

“What do you mean?” A confused Lexa glanced at an equally perplexed Luna.

“The forest is alive! It has been reanimated by my blood!” Dahlia shouted frustratedly.

Lexa’s mind flashed with a memory of the forever changed snowdrop all those years ago.

“She won't stop shaking. I am a monster!” Dahlia growled angrily at herself.

 “Dahlia, Ally is going into shock. She can be aided.”

“What have I done?” Dahlia looked up at the weaving vines and rupturing earth as new life bloomed within Ally’s nook.

“Dahlia, listen to me. Where did your blood first enter Ally?”

“I don’t know? I didn’t mean to infect her like this.”

 “Infect her again. The same place but much less blood. You must offer only small amounts.”

“If she dies then I also wish to be no more …”

“Dahlia-kom-trikru!, settle yourself. You’re first born daughter of Heda. Do not forget that you’re a Queen, not a weak mutt! You need to breathe. Then do as I say.” Lexa’s tone was stern.

Dahlia breathed in deeply through her nose, her back straightening and her chin reaching upwards on hearing Lexa’s tone.

The teen's hands trembled as she got to grips with a stricken Ally. Under her Mothers guidance, shaking fingertip swept Allys hair to one side. A delicate feminine hand placed firmly on her back of her neck. Dahlia released her fatal plasma into her trembling Ally once more. Just as Lexa promised, the tremors stopped instantly.

Dahlia spooned her mate from behind, pressing her face into her back as she held her close.

“Dahlia?” Lexa’s voice came over the radio.

Dahlia lifted herself slowly, unwilling to take herself away from Ally as she reached for the radio, she pressed the talk button, only to be startled by a commotion in the distance.

_BANG!_

Dahlia stood quickly as she heard gunfire in the distance.

“Mother, did you hear that?”

Lexa was already at the window of the tower. Flashes of orange light met the quickening sunrise. The ricochet of bullets, dancing off the treeline that ended by the ominous containment wall filled the morning air.

“Klark.” Lexa whispered faintly.

“Where is my sire? What is going on?” Dahlia panicked.

“Dahlia _STAY_ where you are. I will find you.” Lexa headed straight for the door, radio in hand, Luna in pursuit.

More ammunition fire sounded out followed by a shockingly loud explosion close to the wall.

“Sire!” Dahlia gripped the radio. Looking down at Ally then instinctively over at the sound of artillery fire.

“Dahlia _DO NOT_ leave Ally,” Lexa ordered.

“I am not far away from the wall.”

“Do not go _anywhere_ near the dead zone!” Lexa warned.

Dahlia grabbed a handful of hair, Her heart torn in two. How could she stay with Ally and aid her Sire?

“You're too far away, Mother! I can get there in minutes. I can do this!”

“Dahlia, your sire is not a weak woman she can…

“Can you stabilise Ally if need be? Dahlia interrupted her mother as she tugged on her jeans and t-shirt.

“Yes. But it is YOU that she will need long-term, Dahlia. She is yours, not mine.” Lexa whispered.

The smell of burning bark and seared flesh met Dahlia’s sensitive nose. Clarke was in grave danger.

“I have to save my sire. I cannot just sit here!”

Lexa was by now mounting her steed. Her eldest pups joining their mother in aiding their sire.

“Dahlia, please. Do not go near that place. Please listen to me!…” Lexa’s eyes glazed with tears before a concerned looking Zinnia and Jago.

“I am leaving the radio by Ally’s side. Find her Mother! Please!” Dahlia begged.

Dahlia glanced up at the roving black vines and unique looking foliage.

“The forest will protect her. My blood is running through this place.” Dahlia now smiled at the enhanced forest nook.

The young girl headed for the exit, screeching to a halt before she left her Ally behind. She took one last look at her love. Dahlia shot towards the workbench, grabbing for Lexa’s red shawl and in the process, knocking something heavy to the ground.

Dahlia looked down to see the half-finished wooden wolf that Ally had handcrafted. Dahlia picked up the ornament swiftly. She headed straight back to Ally. She kissed her love on the forehead, then placed the wooden wolf by her side.

“I will return to you I swear it! … _I love you so much.”_ Dahlia stroked Ally's hair.

Standing steadily, Dahlia threw Lexa’s red shawl over her shoulders, sweeping a section of material up over her head and creating a hood.

“I am coming, sire. Hold on.”

At that, a hooded, heroic form rushed out into the dark forest and straight towards the dead zone.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	31. Follow the Yellow brick road (part two)

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Get up, Bellyboy! You lazy beta fuck!” Echo hollered over at her struck colleague.

Bellamy grimaced. Clutching at his shoulder, the wounded man attempted to stem the blood that oozed out from where the bullet passed right through.

“Officer down!  -we need assistance - containment wall - Polis periphery.” Clarke was somewhat more professional in her assessment of her sergeant’s predicament and her unit’s location.

_Chucka! Chucka! Chucka!_

_The prime_ quickly shielded her body from a sudden hail of bullets. She rammed her back up against a rotund tree trunk, her face turned sharply to the right as shrapnel embedded itself within the proud Larch.

As the bark exploded, the tree bled out. A violent splintering deposited a veil of chipping and sap across Chief Griffin’s upturned cheek. Those deep bullet-hole wounds released a hint of fresh cut grass and pine into the atmosphere.

Clarke couldn’t help but inhale that sweet scent. The earthy fragrance reminded the Skai-girl of only one thing… _Lexa and Luna._ That aroma was the exact same as her loves.

Despite the current danger, Clarke smiled as she thought of the beautiful women that carried her children and ruled her heart.

“You get a good look at who’s firing on us?” Clarke yelled over at her second in command.

Echo mirrored her leader, taking cover behind a Common walnut. Its bullet-ridden flesh released a robust and spicy citrus aroma into the morning air. That smell, coupled with the injured larch, forced a random thought to pass through Clarke’s Griffin's mind… _How could this deadly war zone smell so much like Christmas?_

“Why is it always me that looks?” Echo squealed, dragging out an impromptu laugh from a pinned down Clarke.

“Because I’m better looking than you!” Clarke smiled over at a frowning Echo.

Nothing but a low grumble came from the lovable street fighter.

“Don’t deny it. I know my pretty face has thrown you all these years, bro!” Clarke teased.

Echo’s head tipped back as she emptied out a hearty belly laugh.

“Careful Griffin, I’ll try anything once.” Echo called back.

Sudden silence befell the clearing, both Alpha locked eyes suspiciously. Was this finally a break in the attack?

Echo’s sensitive nose caught the scent of dieseling caused by excessive lubricant. It had ignited during the firing cycle and jammed the barrel of her attacker's firearm. Nitroglycerin, sawdust and graphite bled through the air pungently. Clarke spat out an oily metallic tang from her mouth as the residue of the misfiring weapon filled the air.

“Fucking over your own gun? – That’s gotta be Trikru! Stick to pointy things you Tree hugging, hippy fucks!” Echo goaded.

Clarke arched a brow. TriKru? What the hell was going on?

Echo breathed in deeply through her nostrils before daring a glance across the smokey clearing.

Her features morphed, freeing wolfish lenses to cut through the half-light and charcoal clouds of gunfire mistiness. The skeletal masks and flamboyant pauldrons were not hard to miss.

“Imperial Guard! We’re being fired on by your mate's snooty fucking guards!” Echo yelled at Clarke.

 

Clarke’s brow fell into confusion. She held the hilt of her handgun in both hands, raising the firearm up to her chest in preparation for returning fire. Her eyes closed momentarily as she pulled in a soft breath. Clarke peered out from her hiding place, her cobalt blue eyes glinted in the early morning sunrise.

Nyko…. Chief Griffin’s eyes went wider as she saw the dutiful watch commander stroll through the haze.

“ _Nou yu fut daun nowe_ , Nyko.” Clarke called out to Lexa’s most loyal soldier.

Nyko raised his rifle, firing one shot towards the sound of Clarke’s voice and forcing the prime back behind the protection of her larch.

“There is your answer!” Echo chuckled at Clarke.

“Your Trigedasleng needs work! I thought you might have a better grasp of the language, since you have spent the last eighteen years fucking two Tri-Girls at once.” Echo scoffed.

“We don’t say that much in bed. in fact, we don’t talk at all!” Clarke bragged.

“Touché, my friend.” Echo grit her teeth as she considered running to a new vantage point.

“Leave now, Klark. You’re good and noble. My fight is not with you.” Nyko eventually replied.

“No shit! You could have fooled us, ass wipe!” Echo bellowed.

Nyko fired in the direction of a willful Echo.

The quick-witted wolf ducked back behind the old Walnut tree.

“Motherfucker! we could really do with the mighty Skai-beast making an appearance right about now, Griffin!”

“It doesn’t work like that. I wish it did.” Clarke sighed as she willed the spirit of her beast to come to her.

“What? You gotta ask Leksa’s permission to turn? Fucking Omegas! Can I go to the bar? Can we have steak for dinner? Can I turn into a giant fucking dog?” Echo mocked the fairer sex.

Clarke smirked at her playfully misogynistic friend.

“Believe it or not, Lexa isn’t that controlling. I can’t just turn at will, Echo. I don’t command the spirit world.”

“No, but your girlfriend’s girlfriend does!” Echo fired on Nyko, forcing the man to duck and cover.

“This is your last warning, Guarda warriors. Leave now, you’re surrounded!”

“Why are you doing this, Nyko?” Clarke demanded an answer.

“Heda will not heed my warning. She will not act against the threat we all stand vulnerable to. The threat of death, corruption, violation.”

“Brother, please. Whom do you speak of?” Echo asked.

“The heir to the throne, the girl whose heart is as black as the blood in her veins. She is the resurrection of every torrid Natblida queen since passed. She and her kind must be taken down, one by one!”

“ _Dahlia_.” Echo mumbled to herself.

A glance over at Clarke was well worthwhile. The blonde’s eyes now burnt a violent orange, her shirt strained against her muscles as something primal within tried to escape.

“Maybe we won’t have to wait too long for your inner monster after all.” Echo ran her eyes over a seething Clarke.

“I know you love her, beast. But she is not what she seems. It pains me to say it… but neither is her Mother.” Nyko dared.

 

Clarke stepped out, baring her fangs and her claws to Nyko as he insulted both her lover and her daughter. A hail of bullets descended yet again.

“Griffin, pull back! It’s no good, we’re outgunned and fucking surrounded!” Echo conceded.

A thirteen-strong pack of Alpha converged on the three Guarda officers.

“I am sorry it has come to this, Klark Griffin. Your only crime is love and loyalty to them both.” Nyko led his gang of defectors forwards.

“Fuck…” Echo was all out of options. This wasn’t the way she envisioned herself going out.

Unexpectedly, The Azgeda’s attention was drawn to a rustle from within the trees, followed by a flash of red velvet.

A body. A long, lithe body, slid across the forest floor. One foot raised then kicking out at the lower leg of the nearest Imperial guard. Echo narrowed her eyes as she heard his tibia break.

The guard cried out in agony, as Dahlia brought him down effortlessly.

“Witch!” Nyko yelled at the hooded form of Dahlia as she skillfully flipped herself up from the dirt.

“Stand down or spend an eternity in my Mothers cells?” Dahlia warned, pointing a clawed fingertip at the ringleader.

“This is where I put an end to your toxic bloodline! Guards…attack!”

 Nyko fell back as his rebels circled the brazen teen. They took up sharp, steely arms. Twelve strong men about to go hand to hand with a young teenage girl. Dahlia sank into an attack stance. Her fists clenched and raised in a dramatic ninjitsu pose.

 The good-looking Omega allowed herself to glance back over her shoulder at Echo and Clarke. Her eyes landed on her stunned sire, a sly smile falling across her pretty face.

“Hey, Skai-beast.” She smiled lovingly at Clarke.

“Hey, baby.” Clarke managed through a mystified tone.

 

“I couldn’t just leave you to fight alone.” Dahlia croaked.

Clarke shook her head as she took her warrior daughter in.

“After I am done with these dogs, I have to get back to my Ally.” Dahlia paused.

Echo held her breath as Ally’s name left Dahlia’s lips.

“I ... I love her, sire. Last night. I have given everything of myself to her.”

The teenager smiled so happily, it forced Clarke to brandish a glee-filled grin herself. Clarke’s expression warmed Dahlia’s heart, her sire’s approval in her choice in mate mattered so much.

Echo’s features, however, sank into dismay. Ally…what had Dahlia done to her?

“This won't take long.” Dahlia focused on the pack of bulky Alpha.

Clarke startled as she heard a resonance of Lexa as Dahlia sounded out her battle cry.

There followed a succession of soft, liquid, continuous movements. Creating the illusion that Dahlia’s attacks flowed from one to another with no break in between. Three fully grown men down already! Clarke lost track of the number of failed counter moves on her special little girl.

Echo appeared slack-jawed as a breathless and brutal martial arts thriller unfolded before her eyes. The skill would have been worthy of note - if Clarke hadn’t witnessed it all before in Lexa. That precision and inventiveness, taking the art of combat into a ballet of knives, swords, and hammers. Echo recoiled as a guard received an axe to the shoulder, which was then used to yank him halfway across the clearing.

No holds were barred and few punches were pulled. But rather than the brute violence, Echo was marvelling at Dahlia’s speed, technique and pain threshold. The fight seeming skilfully choreographed. Notably, an exhilarating double-footed dropkick from standing that took down a man more than twice the girls weight.

In all her years of barroom brawling that left no opponent or piece of furniture intact. Echo had never seen anyone fight quite like this young Omega.

 

She was possessed with extraordinary physical grace, balletic poise, lethal speed and explosive power. Pushing eighteen years of age yet a master of mixed martial arts by the time she was twelve.

A guard was thrown flat on his back with no time to sit up, Dahlia’s balled up fist slammed down into his chest, crushing his lungs and incapacitating him.

A second guard foolish enough to attempt to blindside the omega, found her boot contact with his jaw as a light-footed Dahlia held an brutal arabesque style pose, taking the large man to ground instantly.

 

Hands and feet are one thing in martial arts; elbows and knees are quite another. After seeing this Muay Thai showreel unfold, the Azgeda would put money on Dahlia against any other skilled fighter. Even in the moments where she wasn’t fighting anyone at all, where she was merely striding toward her next target, Dahlia-kom-trikru was awesomely formidable.

 

“You know, you could have just taught her to play an instrument. Like normal parents do.” Echo raised a brow as Dahlia continued to pummel a man twice her size.

“She’s Lexa’s daughter.” Clarke smiled at her brawling child.

“Ouch! and yours, clearly!” Echo sucked in a breath as Dahlia’s elbow contacted with a guard’s jaw, cracking the bone audibly.

Dahlia addressed the felled guards.

“Bring a thousand more men, and still it will _not_ bring you victory! I am untouchable, unstoppable, I am the daughter of Heda and the Skai-beast!”

Nyko and two remaining imperial guards stepped back as Dahlia strode towards them.

 

A small dark figure cut across Dahlia’s path, causing all to momentarily lose focus...

“See to her!” Nyko bellowed as he pursued the strange figure.

The hair on the back of Dahlia’s neck had stood on end as the small dark figure ran past her, something about the intruder caused the blood to sing in her veins.

Clarke and Echo came to Dahlia’s side, promptly.

“Go after him! I got these two traitors.” Rolling up her sleeves, Echo beckoned the remaining imperial guards forwards.

 

 

 


	32. Wicked

 

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke struggled to match Dahlia’s pace. Nyko the only thing in the teen's sight as he pursued the dark stranger.

“Head him off at the west of the clearings, I’ll go east!” Clarke instructed Dahlia.

The talented teen obeyed her sire’s instruction, banking off to the right, leaping over felled, rotten tree’s as she flew.

The air felt thicker here, the closer to the dead zone and the murkier Dahlia’s mind became. She shook her head. The early morning light seemed to dim, even though Dahlia knew sunrise was upon her. Speckles of black particles floated in the air, as foreign seeds sought to grow in the earth of the thirteen clans from the dreaded dead zone.

Dahlia felt so invigorated as she unintentionally inhaled these strange, tiny flakes of dark dust. She was so taken by them, she didn’t even notice another female form sprinting towards her from within the trees.

“Smack!”

Dahlia tumbled to the ground, her legs caught up with the strangers.

The teenager untangled her long legs then scrambled to her feet, as did the unusual looking woman she’d collided with.

Both athletic looking omega locked eyes, panting out their exhaustion from dashing through the forest so fast. Dahlia felt panic radiating from the slender looking figure before her.

“You are not from any clan I know.” Dahlia breathed in deeply, attempting to recover from her mad dash through the woods..

“And you! You are in the way of me pursuing my….”

 The angered woman paused, her senses suddenly on high alert as Dahlia stood a little closer.

Dahlia tilted her head curiously in response to the woman’s transfixed gaze.

“Pursuing whom? Dahlia took up her mother’s defensive posture.

“My son!”  The moody woman still seemed taken with something about Dahlia as she replied.

“What are you?” The woman suddenly asked.

“I might ask you the same thing?” Dahlia raised a brow.

“I sense you have night-blood in your veins.” The foreigner mumbled, her expression confused.

“Yes. My mother is Natblida. She was born in the 14th clan.” Dahlia narrowed her eyes, suspiciously.

“Ha! … is that what you call us?” The woman smirked.

Silence fell between the two. Dahlia felt a scowl take over her brow at this woman’s sheer insolence and lousy attitude.

“We’re not a clan, we do not have a Queen. She abandoned us many years ago!” The stranger added.

“You will tell me your name!” Dahlia suddenly demanded.

“and why should I?” The woman dared.

Dahlia stepped forward, her eyes morphing black and her height towering above the stubborn female before her.

“You _will_ tell me because _I_ ask! Tell me your name, right now!” Dahlia snapped.

And there it was…

That long-lost royal blood boiling within the young girl before her. The blood of former Queen’s long since dead and gone. That same stance and strong jaw. The seething green eyes and rivers of dark curls. The foreign woman still gawked at a frowning Dahlia. She had seen these trademark features in the tribal artwork of her people many times before. Where the Natblida Queen was depicted in all her stoic glory. This tall, dark, young girl…she made the older Omega want to drop to her knees, to give of herself in service and obedience.

“Anya…My name is Anya.” The woman shakily replied.

“I am Dahlia.”

“There is great power within you, Dahlia.” Anya praised.

“Yes. There always has been.” Dahlia whispered her reply.

“Can it be that you’re made of her?” The woman stepped back to inspect Dahlia further.

“Her? You mean Leksa-kom-trikru?”

“No…I speak of Queen Jasmin. She fell at the hands of the mountain men. Her spirit still walks these woods, her ashes remain in the air itself all these years on from her slaughter. She will not be parted from these lands. From her land!” Anya proudly stated.

A shot rang out in the distance, both women locked eyes then broke into a run towards the sound, together.

 

* * *

 

 

Clarke had momentarily lost sight of Nyko. Her focus was captured by a little boy huddled within the nearby shrubbery. That dark form that shot passed Dahlia was nothing more than a child...a Natblida child at least ten years old.

As Clarke crouched down, two big dark eyes stared back from within the green leaves. A smile quite naturally spread across the primes lips. She had seen two very similar, irresistible dark eyes peep out at her like this in the past. A memory of a mischievous young Dahlia flashed in Clarke’s mind. Her smart little girl was always just out of reach like this, whenever they would play hide and seek.

“Hey... I won’t hurt you.” Clarke tiptoed forward, a hand outstretched.

The figure retreated further into the bushes.

“I’m one of the good guys. That man is not my friend.” Clarke sank to her knees, searching within the knotted branches and entwined brambles.

The prime’s head turned sharply as she heard a gun load a second time. A glint of something metallic sparkled across the clearing in the early morning sunlight.

Dahlia and Anya appeared briskly from the trees. Clarke held out a hand to halt them both before tragedy struck.

Sadly…it all happened too damn fast.

On sight of his mother, the young Natblida boy set forward, revealing his location to the would-be snipper.

“No…don’t!” Clarke yelled.

Anya's legs carried her only a few paces, her son sprinted towards his mother so instinctively.

Dahlia saw it all in slow motion, heard the bullet leave the chamber of Nyko’s rifle and sensed its trajectory through the air.

Direct hit!

Anya caught her son just as he fell.

“No!” Clarke went to aid a stricken Anya.

Dahlia covered her ears as Anya’s grieve stricken scream sliced through the forest.

Anya cradled her son in her arms. Clarke did her best to see to the wound. Deplorably…It was fatal.

Two fading dark eyes stared back up at Clarke. A ragged breath leaving the boys lips as he smiled up at a teary beast. His skin ashen and his face riddled with dark Veins. Just like Clarke’s own special little girl.

“Your hair is yellow.” The boy managed with his last breath.

Clarke lowered her head. A hand reaching out and offering her sympathies to a fellow parent via a squeeze of Anya’s shoulder.

Anya’s grip tightened on her son. She shook the boy as if that might somehow bring him back.

Within the boy’s hand, Clarke noticed a familiar vial.

“What is this? Why is he carrying this stuff? It's lethal. Why are you bringing this into our lands? Clarke mumbled.

Anya's head shot up. Her eyes bloodshot and swollen.

“We only wanted you to help cure us! It is not our fault that your people are weak and think our infections a narcotic! We only wanted help! This darkness surely can be removed. We’re not born violent! My son was not a monster!” Anya shouted.

Clarke took in the scene at hand. A grief-stricken Anya, broken, with her son’s limp body in her arms. Dahlia silenced, with her face hidden in her palms.

Clarke’s eyes looked up at the foreboding concrete walls that separated the vicious Natblida from the rest of the clans.”

“My god. We’re the monsters…not them!” Clarke lamented.

Dahlia’s top lip curled. All these years. All the refusals at offering aid to these people…her people! A cryptic warning from her mother that all was not as it seemed within the dead zone. That those within the walls of the containment barrier were fated to be harbingers of darkness. That Dahlia and Leksa herself, were nothing but a conduit for a primal leaning towards savageness and dark deeds, no matter how “normal” the Natblida seemed at first.

Across the clearing…Nyko lowered his weapon. His hands trembling and his heart sinking.

“What have I done?” He whispered.

Echo appeared behind him, her firearm raised at the back of a stationary Nyko. She looked beyond the man mountain, her eyes fixed on the little boy in the foreigner’s arms

“Jesus…you shot a kid.” Echo tone was soaked in sadness.

“I am … I am ready to face vengeance itself now. Please. I did not mean for this to happen. To become this kind of man.” Nyko tilted his head up to the morning sky.

Echo gripped at Nyko’s forearms, her cuffs attaching to his large wrists. He did not protest.

“My vengeance nowadays is called due process. Nyko-kom-trikru. I am arresting you for murder. You do not have to say…

“My life is not taken by your hand, Azgeda. It is not you that will exact justice.” Nyko interrupted.

Anya kissed her little boy on his head, her eyes then landed on a troubled, confused young Dahlia.

“Avenge us…. _my Queen_.” She snarled.

“No! That is _not_ happening. She’s not your Queen!” Clarke snapped.

Dahlia felt something change within. She couldn’t help herself. Her light sides nails were clinging on above a bottomless pit. Her dark sides foot firmly stamping down upon her weakening fingertips. A dangerous presence now sketched macabre intent across the most alluring of faces. It made its feelings transparent in the most telling of smiles, in the most nefarious of facial expression.

“Dahlia!” Clarke called after her enraged first born. The limp body of the assassinated child still laying part way in her lap.

Nyko’s hands dropped down to his sides as Dahlia stormed towards him. It was if he knew all along what fate awaited him at her hands. A metallic scraping of steel dragged along the ground, as Dahlia scooped up an abandoned blade. The steel glinted in the sunlight as Dahlia twisted the handle once in her tightening grip. Her eyes never once left Nyko’s.

Echo stood firm as she attempted to take Nyko into custody. Her eyes locked onto the approaching force of darkness though. Contempt directed itself towards Nyko like a sharp spear through the air as a Tsunami of vengeance gathered beneath Dahlia’s feet.

Anya looked on in awe. Her gaze full of nothing but worship for Dahlia, and heartache for her son.

Clarke stumbled as she set after her eldest child.

“Dahlia…stop! Don’t!” Clarke hollered.

 “Your mother was wrong to sanction the wall! But she is not wrong about the darkness in that place that affects the two of you! Please! I have seen what it did to her!”

It was all too late though…

Dahlia swung back the blade with both hands. As if she were about to chop through dense foliage.

Echo heard the bone break first, then a quick snap of a detached spinal column as Dahlia hacked straight through connective tissue.

With one brutal swipe. Dahlia met her previous promise to Nyko. His head slipped slowly from his shoulders. In an odd twist of the macabre, it took far too long for his body to fall. It remained upright and flinching as if it knew nothing of its murder.

 Echo swore she felt the earth pulse bulse beneath her feet. Swore she heard the faint heartbeat of new life as something awoke from within the dead zone.

As Nyko met his fate, as his life was taken so brutally, something changed beyond the wall.

In the early morning dawn, within the exposing, bright winters sun and the fresh morning due…A true Natblida Queen was coronated.

“Wanheda!” Anya whispered as she witnessed Dahlia execute her son's murderer.

 

 

_Halfway to the containment wall…_

_Lexa’s horse galloped heroically. The sound of gunfire in the distance was worryingly no more. She gripped the reins tightly as she felt the same boom of energy as Echo emanating from the dead zone. She tightly closed her eyes as she felt the crown of the Queen of the Natblida slip from her head and pass over from mother to daughter._

 

 

 

 

 


	33. Tinman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favourite chapter in this entire series. Thanks to all those who have stuck with this unorthodox fanfic.
> 
> Inspiration strikes in the strangest of places.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0PO41H7A6I

 

 

* * *

 

Echo’s feet remained frozen to the spot as Nyko’s blood splattered across her features. The look on his face as Dahlia cleaved his head from his body would stay in Echo’s thoughts until her final moment. Echo thought she had seen it all. How could this tall, slender teenager remove a man's head in one fell swoop?

Curiously, Dahlia had not moved. The executioner's blade remained in her left hand. Her back arched and her face looking up to the sky. Her features concealed within the hooded wrap of Lexa’s red sash. Echo noted how the girl barely seemed to be breathing.

A metallic clunk of a dropped firearm sounded out from behind. Echo witnessed the years of denial rip out from under Clarke's skin. Her shoulders slumped forward as she fell to her knees alongside her handgun. The mighty Skai- beast finally brought to the ground by the startling truth about her special little girl.

Echo frowned as Dahlia still kept her back to her sire. Still unable to turn round and face her parent. Her head hanging loosely and tilted backwards, her long arms dangling by her sides.

The teen's light side was no more, and only her darker-self was bleeding through. Echo held her breath, as an altered Dahlia finally spoke.

“What is the point of inner light, if it fails to illuminate those lost in the dark?”

Clarke’s blue eyes watered on hearing her daughter's low tone. The same tone that distilled the light in Lexa and told the Prime that her lovers good heart was failing.

The beast shook her head. She dared a glance to her left. Nyko's eyes had already whited out and his jaw set wide open in a permanent look terror.

“I am made of the kindest part of you and the cruellest part of her. That being said – it does not mean I love _you_ any less.” A dark Dahlia confessed, still unable to face her sire.

 “That love is why I am giving you one day. One day to get as far away from Polis as you can. In one days time…I will lay waste to Arkadia, Polis, Azgeda. I will bring all within my mother's kingdom to the ground. Anyone who remains will be turned to ash or …”

“I'm sorry.” Clarke interrupted.

Dahlia turned her head slightly. Her side profile revealing that trademark ashen skin and pulsing black veins.

“I m sorry I didn’t do more to help you.” Clarke croaked as she addressed the dark entity that now consumed her first born.

Dahlia turned to face her broken sire. Echo stepped back as Lexa’s twisted mother seemed to suddenly stand before her.

“I still love you, Dahlia.” Clarke sobbed.

“Do not.” A dark dahlia whispered.

“Dahlia please, I know you’re still in there. Not everyone agrees with Nyko. He didn’t speak for all of the clans! Think about what you're doing. Remember how much your family loves you. Think about..…

Dahlia quickly stalked forward. Raising a foot up to her sire's face.

Echo surged towards the girl, only to feel the vengeful paws of Anya pull her back into custody.

Dahlia's foot came down hard upon Clarke’s temple. How could she let her finish? How could she listen to such testimony when her heart swelled with so much revenge.

Consciousness left the prime as she lay sprawled out in a heap before her favoured child.

“I truly am sorry. I took no pleasure in that.” Dahlia knelt by her Sire’s side. Picking a crisp leaf from her brow and tidying her wild hair, just as she would as a little girl.

Echo suddenly made a bid for freedom. Knocking Anya to the ground. She foolishly surged at a changed Dahlia once more.

Dahlia's forearm collided square on with Echo’s throat. The sheer force of the blow sent Echo feet first into the air in a dramatic rotation. The older wolf found herself coughing and spluttering, as she stared up at the sky above.

“Stay on the ground, you old fool,” Dahlia warned.

Echo drunkenly stumbled. She was barely to her feet when Dahlia dragged her the rest of the way up by her clothing. Echo bravely raised her bloody knuckles and swung at the teen, only to find Dahlia easily sweep her legs out from under her. Echo groaned aloud as her back hit the ground hard, again.

Dahlia raised a brow as she watched Echo crawl in the dirt towards her. She was outmatched in both speed and strength, yet still, Echo bared her teeth determinedly and dragged herself back towards danger. The now unforgiving Dahlia stood with her hands behind her back, her chest puffed outwards and her chin held high. Echo glanced up to the tall teen.

 “You have plenty of courage, I am sure, All one needs is confidence in oneself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty. All it takes is to step out from the shadow of another.”

 “You stand like her. You know that, right? Since you were little, you always wanted to stand just like her!” Echo wheezed.

“Like a Queen,” Dahlia smirked

“No…like a fucking pretentious, preachy bitch.” Echo replied with a raspy laugh.

Anya watched on as Dahlia brought her foot to Echo’s searching fingers in the dirt. The Natblida heard bones crunch, shortly followed by Echo’s guttural wail as Dahlia broke all of her fingers.

Dahlia used the same foot to kick Echo onto her back.

Echo huffed out a painful yelp, as Dahlia sat down on her hips.

Her claws quickly ripped through the officer's Kevlar vest and tore open Echo’s sweater. She exposed her toned chest to the night air.

A dark Dahlia glanced across at Nyko’s abandoned head. She reached across toward it, pressing her weight further into Echo and causing the wolf to cry out.

Echo’s eyes went wide as Dahlia dangled the gruesome body part above her face. The wolf sounded out her upset, wriggling beneath Dahlia to escape the horror show before her.

“A scarecrow’s brain, a tinman’s heart, and a lion’s courage.”A dark Dahlia whispered.

Anya watched on from the sidelines. Her expression sullen and soulless as she grieved internally for her dead son.

“What?” Echo replied as she tried not to look at the macabre object inches from her face.

“There was a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man. A little girl caught up in a storm. Which one are you, I wonder?” Dahlia looked down at Echo with empty eyes.

“You’ve lost your shit, kid!” Echo bellowed as Dahlia swung Nyko’s head by its hair above her nose.

“That is the last book my light side read. I hated that book. I had to endure every word from within. Ruby slippers and an emerald city filled with tiny people with no hope. A wicked witch terribly misunderstood.” Dahlia stared blankly into space.

Echo tried one last time to wriggle out from under the maddening Dahlia.

“I suppose I have my Scarecrow and his brain.” Dahlia placed the decapitated head on the ground right by Echo. She turned Nyko’s face to look directly at the older wolf. The ice nation brawler quickly turned to look the other way. She breathed in heavy through her nostrils as fear slowly took hold of the brave Azgeda street fighter.”

Dahlia's eyes landed on a knocked out Clarke,

“I have my lion and all her courage.”

Echo followed Dahlia’s gaze.

 “That means you must be the Tinman, Echo.”

Dahlia ran her fingertips across Echo’s bare chest, her touch a gentle caress.

“All this hard veneer. All this tough outer shell when deep down, I can see you’re nothing but soft inside.”

Echo locked eyes with the deadly Dark Dahlia. As she grinned gleefully.

 “I think you're wrong to want a heart. It makes most people terribly unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have one!”

Echo hollered as Dahlia’s claws pressed through her skin, pushing through meaty flesh, then striking the bone below and seeking out Echo's strong heart.

Echo’s feet jutted out wildly as Dahlia slowly twisted her fingers into her.

“Fuuuck!” Echo called out desperately. Her breathing erratic and her temperature dropping as her body fell into terror.

Deeper still, Dahlia pressed against the protective cage of bone beneath. Echo’s blood made a satisfying squelching sound, as Dahlia toyed with her kill.

Echo felt her soul prepare to leave her mortal shell. In what she feared were her final moments. Echo managed to whisper just one word and thought of only one face.

“ _Octavia_.” Echo breathed, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Dahlia tilted her head and watched the salty droplet cascade down towards the earth.

She recited, word for word, the only passage from that damn book she could bear.

“Goodbye Tinman. Oh, don’t cry. You’ll rust so dreadfully.”

Dahlia raised her free hand. Her claws fully extended. Her new mantra?...a life for a life. Over and over.

 _“Blood must have blood!”_ Anya hissed.

Whether it was the way the morning sunlight caught the side profile of Echo’s strong jaw? Or the flash of ice blue eyes... Something stopped Dahlia in her tracks. The glee-filled facial expression of a dark Dahlia suddenly morphed into a confused, furrowed brow.

She lowered her deadly claws and clutched Echo’s jaw firmly in her hand. She turned her face slowly and inspected the familiar features before her. With a deep breath inhaled, a flash of memory attacked a dark Dahlia.

“ _Ally.”_ She whispered.

Echo managed to catch a glimpse of Dahlia as the dawns early light streamed in through the tree canopy above, presenting a fleeting image of rosier skin and a tease of green eyes.

Dahlia suddenly retracted her claws, lifting her weight off a doomed Echo. The azgeda spat up blood, a raspy cough leaving her in agony as her lungs fought for air.

“My Queen. You're letting her live?” Anya looked to the severely injured Echo.

Dahlia’s eyes now morphed back into a deadly black shade.

“We’re almost done here.” Dahlia glanced towards the pack of retreating guards.

Dahlia headed over towards Anya's lifeless little boy. She scooped up his body into her arms, standing proudly before Anya.

 “I swear…Every clan will pay for the neglect of your child, and other Natblida like him.”

Anya nodded, her hand stroking her son's thick hair as Dahlia cradled his form.

 “I will finish the work my Grandmother started, I will return to you the lands that are rightly that of the Natblida..”

“What of your Mother? What of Heda? She is weak and will side with the red bloods.” Anya snapped.

“Be mindful of your tone! I will _not_ hear another speak ill of her. She is magnificent, she has merely lost her way.”

“Will she not mount a resistance to your rule?”

A Dark Dahlia smirked.

“She will join my cause. I tire of pretending to be like these people.” Dahlia glanced down at Echo.

“I know she feels the same. My mother will stand by _my_ side. Either that - or I will carry her over the threshold to our true kin myself, bound and gagged if necessary. Then she will see that she has spent too many years on the wrong side of this wall!”

 “Sha, Wanheda.” Anya bowed.

 

 

 

 


	34. Wanheda

 

* * *

 

 

As it galloped to a hard stop, the hooves of Lexa’s magnificent white horse churned up the mulchy earth below. With one foot already freeing itself from a stirrup, Lexa all but vaulted from her steed. Her boots impacted in the dirt beneath as she nailed a perfect score landing. Tentatively…Heda took in the scene at hand.

Dahlia was long since departed. All that remained were bodies. Her own Imperial guards strewn across the forest floor. Their deaths closer to an execution than the result of regular combat. Arms, fingers and hands had been recklessly removed. The position of the corpses told Lexa that these men had tried desperately to flee. Those that could had attempted to run, whereas others endured a futile crippled crawl towards shelter, only to be stamped upon like insects midway. The sheer brutality and lack of forgiveness told Lexa that Dahlia’s light side was no longer in control.

The snorting of a worked horse alerted Lexa to the fact her three children had finally caught her up.

“She didn’t do this…tell me she didn’t do this!” Zinnia’s skin paled as she reluctantly dismounted her horse.

Zoning out, Lexa closed her eyes. Holding her breath, the Queen failed to respond to her concerned Alpha daughter.

“Mom, answer me!” Zinnia cried out.

Jago edged passed his sister. His eyes fixated on the most macabre of art pieces. Through the trees, Dahlia’s creativity awaited appraisal from Lexa, as always.

“She is lost to us. This is beyond her previous mental breaks.” Jago grimaced as he spotted the armless body of an imperial guard slumped against a tree. His position seeming purposefully posed and deliberate. His Pauldron seated upon his head rather than his shoulder in a theatrical display of anarchy to her mother’s rule. The subtle hints portrayed within the deranged artistry were not lost on Lexa. Dahlia would bring nothing but war to her front door in the coming days.

“Amina! Be careful.” Jago called after his trifecta sibling.

Amina ventured further into the forest. Her gift bubbling into life as little quakes of terror and fear pulsed within the body of trees surrounding them. What atrocity had they witnessed on such a beautifully sun-blessed winters morn?

“Her mind has gone.” Amina couldn’t help but absorb the energy that remained in Dahlia’s wake. The screams of the twelve imperial defectors haunting the girl already. Their souls too quickly stripped from them and now wondering these woods unaided and lost.

Amina’s eyes landed on her blood Mother, Lexa’s eyes still lowered to the ground and her breathing uneven.

“She offered them no kindness. She did not grant them a quick end. She ensured they suffered as long as possible. These men were slaughtered like cattle.” Amina added.

Lexa fought a sudden flash of memory. Her own dark nature having once risen so dangerously in these woods. She understood the barbaric act. This lack of empathy and forgiveness had filled her own being before. Only Clarke dragging Lexa from these godforsaken trees had saved her from the darkness that festered within.

“What the hell is this?” Zinnia looked up at the confetti-like particles that fell as ebony snowflakes from the treetops above.

Lexa held out her hand. A wafer-thin flake settled on her upturned palm. Heda’s brow sank into a furious scowl.

“I see you’re still here, Mother.” Lexa’s growled.

Jago cast a confused look towards Zinnia. Mother? Surely the triplets fabled Grandmother’s spirit had departed this plain years ago?

 Lexa’s intense stare searched the tree line, half expecting her demonic mother to slip out from within.

“Mother…Come quickly!” Amina called out.

Lexa sprinted only a short distance.

“Look!” Amina pointed down through the trees towards a clearing.

“Klark!” Lexa bounded down the steep slope.

As Lexa dashed towards her semi-conscious mate, several details struck her about the scene.

Clarke’s hair was correctly fixed and neat. Her face free from dirt and blemishes, all but for a nasty purple bruise forming on her temple. Even her hands had been bathed. The earth from beneath her nails removed and her body was covered with a thick black coat, taken from the body of one of Lexa’s murdered guards. Clarke alone had been lovingly cared for.

Lexa sank to her knees. Her hand reaching out and caressing Clarke's cheek. The soft action called to the beast to stir for her Queen.

Groggily, Clarke's eyes peeled open. Her eyebrows flinching as the early morning light backlit Lexa like some sort of otherworldly creature from above. Clarke returned the soft touch, a trembling fingertip tracing the outline of Lexa’s cheekbones. The features looking down upon her forced a lazy smile to pull at the corner of her mouth.

“I love you, Dahlia?” Clarke mumbled.

Lexa captured Clarke’s paw in her own, kissing the back of her hand then cradling it against the side of her face tenderly.

“Klark…it’s me, Leksa.” The Queen whispered.

For a moment…Clarke struggled to come around.

“Klark please…we need you. What’s happened here?” Lexa softly asked.

Zinnia slid down the same steep slope as her mother, minus the grace.

The teen wolf sniffed the air. A familiar scent wafted from across the clearing. Jago caught onto the same scent too.

“Echo.” He muttered.

Both siblings dashed across the open space, leaving Amina and Lexa to tend to Clarke.

“Echo!” Zinnia had no idea where to begin.

So much blood...

Zinnia threw off her jacket. Tearing at her shirt, she thought to use the material to stem the bleeding. Echo whimpered as she felt the pressure of Zinnia balled up shirt on her chest. Jago copied his quick thinking sister, offering up the shirt from his own back to aid the wounded Echo.

“Find Ally.” Echo managed.

Zinnia glanced at Jago.

“She’s not here, man.” Zinnia explained.

“Find Ally!…Please!” Echo grabbed for Zinnia’s hand.

“Stay still.” Zinnia exchanged her own saturated shirt for Jago’s.

Echo suddenly panicked. Her depleted energy suddenly in resurgence. Zinnia struggled to contain the bucking Azgeda. Jago offered his assistance.

“Get her away from me!” Echo hollered.

Zinnia glanced over her shoulder…as Lexa came into view.

Lexa ran a quick inspection of the severely wounded wolf.

“Zinnia, stand aside.” Lexa rolled up her sleeve. Her powerful ichor ready to stabilise Echo for transit to a hospital.

“NO! Keep that shit away from me. I don’t want it near me!”

“You will die if this bleeding continues.” Lexa’s tone was stern.

“I'd rather die than be infected.” Echo spat through gritted teeth.

Jago watched on as Zinnia attempted to step in. Hoping to convince Echo to calm down in the presence of Lexa.

“Echo, Please. Let her save you. Her blood can help to…

Lexa barged past Jago, pulling Zinnia out of the way and dragging her to the ground. She quickly placed a flat palm on the chest of the stubborn Azgeda. Knowing full well she was at death's door. Echo briefly flapped a weak hand at her commanding saviour, feebly pushing back at the Queen above her. Lexa’s eyes turned black as she glanced down at a rebelling Echo.

“Mom!” Zinnia squealed as she sat on her ass in the dirt, looking on at a terrified Echo as her mother hovered above her like some sort of dark angel.

“We don’t have time for this. You will obey me, for your own sake!” Lexa narrowed her eyes on the tough Azgeda.

Echo felt Lexa’s palm pressed into her chest. A thick membrane of black blood quickly formed a scab like a barrier, trapping what remained of Echo’s own blood within.

“You will comply. Do not resist me, old friend,” Lexa whispered as she finally took over Echo’s body.

“She tried to kill me.” Echo sobbed as she felt Lexa infect her.

“I know…and I am sorry for that.” Lexa swallowed as she focussed on temporarily healing the Alpha.

“I might not make it. Please…find Ally, Leksa. Only Ally can stop her.” Echo confessed.

Lexa’s eyes landed on Echo. The IceWolf now falling into the arms of infection as Lexa’s powerful blood halted her deteriorating condition. The wolf struggled to stay conscious as Lexa’s blood took over her system.

“She stopped. Why else would she stop? She saw Ally in me. She loves her.” Echo mumbled.

Lexa felt tears form.She looked down sharply as she felt the dry skin of Echo’s hand as it captured her own.

“She’s still in there, Leksa…I saw something in her eyes.” Echo recalled.

“What happened,” Lexa asked.

“Nyko..he shot a kid. A natblida child. He must have crawled through the wall. His mother…she’s with Dahlia now.”

Lexa quickly searched the treeline.

“They're long gone,” Echo added.

Lexa nodded to Zinnia and Jago. Only now could Echo safely be moved.

“Wanheda.” Echo managed.

Lexa stopped in her tracks. The fine hair on her arms standing on end

“What did you say?”

“That’s what she called Dahlia.”

“What the hell is Wanheda?” Zinnia looked to her well-read brother.

“The Commander of death.” Jago sighed.

 

* * *

 

 

Back with Clarke…Amina brought water to her stunned Sire. Suddenly…. A rustle from the trees forced both sire and Daughter to their feet. Clarke grabbed for her Trifecta daughter, standing protectively between her and a hobbling form heading their way.

“Bellamy!” Clarke seemed relieved her Sergeant was still in one piece.

Jago and Zinnia came into view, carrying Echo between them to the sanctuary of the clearing. Amina placed the same coat that covered Clarke over the injured Azgeda.

Lexa finally entering the clearing meant that all survivors of the massacre were collected in one space.

Bellamy stood staring at Lexa. His eyes roaming all over her as he clutched a heavy looking ammunition box in his hands.

Lexa cleared her throat.

“Are you going to tell me what’s in the box or not.”

Bellamy snapped out of his trance.

“This is for you.” Bellamy opened the ominous box.

“She said to tell you, this is both evidence of her loyalty to you but a declaration of war on the 13 Clans.”

Stiff hinges creaked open. As she peered downwards, the decapitated head of Nyko stared up from within.

Heda kept her eyes on Nyko’s sunken orbs as she gave her instructions.

“Jago. Ensure that guarda reinforcements are on route. They need to get Echo and Bellamy to the hospital and then…

Lexa suddenly paused. That same eerie crackle emanating from the radio, caused the blood to heat in her veins.

“What a world, what a world... How can such a good little girl like you destroy all of my beautiful wickedness?" Dahlia recited.

 Zinnia grabbed for the radio before Lexa could hold a definite thought.

“Dar…Please! What the fuck are you doing! You’ve killed twelve men.”

“Thirteen.” Dahlia was polite as she corrected her sister.

Silence followed.

“Is all that is yours truly mine in your absence, Mother.” Dahlia's voice purred over the airways. Lexa was now her only thought.

The Queen’s eyes morphed black, her scowl fixed back towards the tower. Lexa was precisely aware of where Dahlia had gone.

“Do you think she will even notice the difference between us?” Dahlia teased.

“She?” Zinnia pondered.

“Luna!” Jago worried.

Amina snatched the radio from Zinnia.

“If you do anything to harm her I will kill you!” Amina screamed into the handset

“By the time you get back to Polis, It will be too late.” Dahlia threatened.

Lexa steadied Clarke as the two lovers approached Heda’s patient steed.

“How could you, Mother? How could you leave her unattended and all alone.” Dahlia’s dark tone dripped into the radio.

 

 

 

 


	35. Mine.

 

* * *

 

 

In Lexa’s opulent on suite bathing room…

 

Luna tenderly dabbed at the brow of Raven Reyes. The cold cloth an attempt at lowering the beta’s temperature, as Lexa’s blood travelled through her system. Raven groaned as she slipped deeper into the bath water. Luna was polite and did not allow her eyes to linger on the mechanic's naked form. Her care of the beta was nothing to do with predatory intention. She merely wished to look after the human girl that always managed to make her laugh.

Luna's eyes glanced towards the radio though. Still no news on Clarke from Lexa.

Even through the blood drunken haze, Raven couldn't help but see the worry in Luna’s eyes.

“Griffin will be ok. She’s tough. Lexa is Lexa, remember…she’ll get to our Clarkey pants in time.” Raven weakly smiled.

“You're most observant. Are you sure you're not an empath also?” Luna smiled down at Raven from her perched position on the edge of the bathtub.

“Nope. I just know when you’re sad.” Raven gently squeezed Luna’s hand.

Luna’s heart momentarily sank a little. The love in the beta’s eyes was impossible to miss.

“Raven, I do care for you. If the circumstances were different, it would be you I…”

“Please don’t. I get it…” Raven held up a trembling hand to silence an apologetic Luna.

“How about you go get me something to take the edge off?” Raven winked. Her words somewhat slurred.

Luna arched a brow.

“What? The mighty Heda has got to have a decent stash of moonshine in this decadent Five-star porn suite of hers.”

Luna laughed heartily…

“Alright, just don't drown in her bathtub while I am gone.”

Raven gave Luna a thumbs up.”

 

* * *

 

Moments later…

Luna carefully opened Lexa’s antique drinks cabinet. She was mindful as she searched through the vintage wines and spirits, before finding the smokey bourbon that she was sure the beta in the bathtub would enjoy. Luna caught sight of one of Clarke's handguns behind the small custom built bar. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought of her missing lover.

“Please find her, Leksa,” Luna whispered into musty old drinks cabinet.

 “It’s always been you, hasn’t it?”

Luna turned around swiftly to face a familiar voice. A voice baked in Clarke’s Griffin’s gruffness and spiced with Lexa’s sensuality.

 _“You have_ always risen such passion in her. Shame she could never spare anymore for the rest of us.”

From the opposite side of the large bedchamber, Dahlia stood on the periphery of Luna’s safety bubble. Her boots together and her hands clasped behind her back. The Calm, regal, dignified posture bothered Luna much more so than the alabaster skin and roving black veins that decorated the pretty girl's appearance. How had she entered without Luna knowing?

Luna’s eyes glanced briefly towards Clarke’s firearm.

“You won’t reach it in time,” Dahlia smirked. Her cold dark eyes locked with Luna’s warm brown, then glancing towards her Mother’s large bed.

“I wonder how much protest I would truly receive from you, _Aunty Luna?_ “I don’t think you would even notice the difference between the two of us.” Will it be her name still that you scream aloud when I am inside you?”

The falling daughter of Heda watched on curiously as Luna’s blood pressure soared the closer Dahlia drifted towards her.

“Mother has always told me. Everything that is hers in truth belongs to me.”

Luna remembered every moment of Titus’s training. The fight master instilled the art of cunning, stealth and deception into his girls from an early age. Passing on the wisdom that, sometimes, when defeat was inevitable, it was better to flee not fight. Right now though, there was simply nowhere to run.

Luna stepped backwards cautiously. The base of her spine eventually contacting the sturdy wooden bar.  An outstretched hand behind searched desperately for any kind of weapon. Frightened eyes scanned for an exit, hoping to find safe harbour away from the rapidly sinking ship that was Dahlia. Dahlia read Luna’s intention to flee easily.

 “Going so soon? I wouldn't hear of it. Why my little party's just beginning.” Dahlia darkly whispered.

 

_“Never turn your back on your opponent.”_

 Titus’s voice whispered from within some forgotten crevasse in the trembling Luna’s mind. She tensed her core, kept her shoulders back and held her chin high. Still, she could not prevent her hands from shaking the closer a darkened Dahlia got.

 Luna gripped the countertop behind and faced her opponent bravely.

“Aunty Luna _.._. That’s always been such an inappropriate title. Don’t you think?” Dahlia ran her eyes all over her prey.

That spiritual backdrop that only Luna was privy to see. Luna witnessed that energy change like a tumultuous storm around the approaching Dahlia. She saw familiar eyes flash a desperate warning of drowning, before rapidly sinking into soupy black sands. Luna felt her stomach turn. Her hand reached out for a phantom guard rail with which to steady her shaking legs. Such was the threat from Dahlia, Luna believed she was not safe. She felt so vulnerable in the presence of one she cared for so much. How had she missed this? How had the depths of Dahlia’s darkness evaded detection? For all this time.

 “How much do I remind you of her?” Dahlia cooed enticingly.

“Currently, you’re a very poor imitation of your mother, child.” Luna dared.

“But you love it when _she’s_ wicked, don’t you? The mistress of the light so inexplicably drawn to the Queen of the dark.”

Luna drew in a breath as Dahlia edged closer. The toe of her thick leather boots meeting with Luna’s. The Flou-girl struggled to take her eyes from the teenagers as she spoke.

“You enjoy it when Mother is sharp of claw and tooth, don’t you? When her body alters, and she is a beast upon you. She satisfies you much more so than my sire. My sire is sweet to you. She touches you tenderly then comforts you in her arms afterwards…. but that’s not enough, is it?

“Shof yu op!” Luna snapped, bringing a satisfied smile to Dahlia’s lips.

“Heda knows what you _really_ want. You let her tie you down, her hand at your throat and her teeth in your breast. That is what you love! Her cruelty, her dominance, her complete control over you.”

“I warn you, child. I have always bitten back!”  Luna remained strong.

“Of course, you have. Why else do you think she loves you so.” Dahlia smiled.

“My relationship with your Mother in the bedroom is none of your concern. Your interest in your Mother’s sexuality is greatly disturbing.”

A dark Dahlia suddenly grimaced as nausea gripped her from within. Her darkness suddenly interrupted as if a voice from deep down inside willed her to stop.

This was the time to escape. Yet Luna remained transfixed. She ran her eyes quickly across the walls. The soulful woman would swear that she witnessed Dahlia’s shadow move, even when her body did not. No light casts into this room. There was nothing to aid in projecting the black wrath like being that seemed to smear itself across the walls now. Yet there it was.

Green eyes momentarily flickered into life. Dahlia clutched at her guts as she grit her teeth in pain.

“Go!” A weak voice from within crawled out of a dark Dahlia’s lips.

Only now Luna saw the warning signs. Saw the impending chaos unfolding before her eyes. The light spirits soon screamed at Luna. Showing the soulful woman precisely what Dahlia had always struggled with.

“My Gods. Truly your soul is split in two. How is that possible?” Luna faintly whispered.

As quickly as the light reprised in Dahlia, it was snuffed out by the dark. A much blacker shade suddenly loomed over the young girl. Defeating whatever call for restraint hollered from within.

A dark Dahlia glanced at Luna. Catching the tail end of her sudden realisation of truth. The acceptance within that Dahlia had never been all she seemed. 

Luna noted the lingering look. The nature of the intent still loitering within Dahlia's gaze as she took her body in.

A maleficent force consumed the poor girl fully now, for all too see, for all too hastily step back from.

Luna thought she heard Lexa’s dead mothers voice echo in her air. The empath cursed that genetic leaning towards wickedness. It festered deep within the DNA of all three generations, _Grandmother-Mother-daughter_. A torrid vengeful spirit forever lingered on.

Dahlia’s light side was now drowning as her dark-side rejoiced.

“You should have run when you had the chance.’

Luna stepped forward, despite her trembling hands and tightly constricted lungs. Through the fear, Luna remained bold. Call your enemy out, Fight fire with fire, it is better to die on your feet them flat on your back in the dirt! Another memory of Titus's bellowing across the sparring pit came to Luna.

The brightest of ideas dawned on the smart woman. If it worked, Dahlia could be incapacitated, even if only for a moment. Luna just needed to get closer and offer out temptation to the younger Omega.

“Do it!” Luna growled. Her shaking fingertip finding the buttons to her shirt.

Luna pulled angrily at the garment. Dahlia’s eyes lowered as Luna exposed the flesh of her breast to the seventeen-year-old.

“You want to take me, Dahlia! Let's do it. Fuck me! Right here!” Luna snarled through gritted teeth as she unlopped her belt.

The flou girl set forward, gripping the back of Dahlia’s neck and pulling her in for the most violent of kisses. Dahlia pulled back, her dark eyes ran lost and bewildered all over a rebellious Luna.

“Your mother does things to my body that nobody else ever has. She pleases me greatly, she makes me forget my own name when she is inside me. My clit pulses for hours after she has had me. I feel the imprint of her fingers when I walk, such is her ferocity in bed.” Luna bit at Dahlia’s plump cheek, then slammed her palms into her chest, pushing the teenager back several paces.

“You better outdo that Dahlia! I will rate you both after. See how well you have compared to her! After all, that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? You struggling to outshine Mummy!”

That was enough to provoke the young girl in retaliation.

Dahlia gripped at Luna’s throat. Trapping the older woman against her mother’s bar.  A supple thigh rammed between Luna’s legs and pressed into her sex forcefully.

Luna struggled desperately as all the oxygen quickly departed her lungs. She pulled at Dahlia’s tightly soldered on fingers that clasped around her neck, but failed to prize them free.

Luna felt the full weight of Dahlia via that instrusive thigh muscle that all but lifted the vulnerable Omega from the ground. Luna had no choice in her sex grinding against hard flesh. Dark eyes peered down at panicking brown, as the much taller girl towered above her mother's lover. This had to work though, Luna prayed her instincts on Dahlia’s next move were accurate.

“What makes you think I will let you live after I am done with you?” Dahlia playfully sniggered.

That’s when Luna felt it…

Dahlia's head dropped down quicker than Luna could think, two ultra-sharp fangs much longer than Lexa’s sank into the hot flesh of Luna’s throat. Luna’s eyes inventorially rolled as Dahlia drew blood from a thick, pulsing vein and straight into her young mouth.

Instantly, as the clever Luna expected...Dahlia recoiled.

Luna watched the teenager spit up mouthfuls black blood. The incestuous, bitter tang of Lexa assaulting Dahlia’s taste buds and making her instantly retch.

“You think nature a fool?” Luna managed, her hand cupping the wound at her throat as she spoke.

“You cannot enjoy me that way, Dahlia. You may not have me because I am hers. I gave my body to your mother a very long time ago. Every drop of my blood is hers. It is against nature’s wishes that you enjoy the taste of your own Mothers blood. It is unnatural.”

Dahlia vomited, removing Lexa’s blood from a body it should never be within.

“Nature knows how to prevent interbreeding. Knows how to prevent genes from melding when they should not. Your blood and hers cannot occupy the same vessel. You cannot turn me, take me, impregnate me. Quite simply, your Mother got here first, child!” Luna snapped.

A shot fired out from behind. Luna yelled in fright as the unexpected loud bang sounded out, Dahlia turned swiftly to face Luna’s would-be hero…. Raven!

“I just want you to know…I'm terrible with one of these.” The mechanic held the gun up in the air.

A dripping wet, naked Raven fired again. Both Dahlia and Luna ducked as Raven indeed was the worst of shot.

“Hey there.”

Raven waved at Luna….

“Look. I know you’re into tall, dark and crazy but…Do you want some help from short, brown and self-deprecating?

Luna smiled broadly at her unlikely saviour.

Dahlia growled, Raven fired again, Popping the glass bottles of moonshine behind the bar and splattering Luna and Dahlia with Lexa’s luxury spirits and wines.

Raven pointed Clarke’s handgun directly at a seething Dahlia.

“Oh, wow. So much prettier when you’re this pissed off.” Raven took in the beautiful yet enraged Dahlia.

“Seriously, you and Mommy dearest are like supermodel fine. How do you do that smoky eye make-up thing? It’s all about the brush strokes, isn't it?”

“Raven!” Luna yelled, trying to bring the bizarre beta back on track

“Oh, yea! Shit!” Raven reloaded the firearm quickly, as Dahlia moved closer.

“Listen here… pouty lips!”

 Dahlia raised a brow at the odd mechanic.

 “If anyone’s having Lexa’s sloppy seconds it's me, not you!”

Raven stood between a dangerous dark Dahlia and a relieved Luna.

Dahlia snarled, her talons out and ready to tear Raven into tiny pieces.

“And another thing!” Luna placed a hand on Raven's shoulder as they backed away from Dahlia together.

“Where the hell is my little Ally?” Raven pointed the gun at Dahlia, ready to fire.

That cosmic energy changed again, Luna watched on as Dahlia seemed almost dazed at the mention of Ally’s name.

“Ally...” Dahlia mumbled, her eyes lost and roaming the room.

“Dahlia?” Luna softly spoke, believing she saw a flash of her light side emerge again

Dahlia's eyes landed on Luna’s. A silent cry for help being inadvertently communicated and forcing Luna to barge passed Raven.

“Please…let us help you.” Luna stood before a confused Dahlia.

“You can't…it's too late for that. Thirteen men have already died at my hand…. they will not be the last, I assure you.”

At that, Dahlia turned and sprinted towards the sizeable grand window.  A smashing of glass, then the clatter of a body hitting the pathed streets outside sounded out, as Dahlia made her escape via the extreme drop below.

Luna charged after the teen, stopping at the destroyed window pane. Her eyes searched the grounds below. Dahlia had gone from sight already. Luna’s head lowered. Was it all too late?

“So…I’m confused.” Luna turned to face the puzzled engineer.

“She just jumped out of a really high window?”

“Indeed, she did” Luna sighed.

“Why not just go out through the front door?” Raven pointed at the large wooden doorway.

Luna smiled at the sharp-witted Raven.

“So dramatic.” Raven rolled her eyes.

Luna quickly paced towards Reyes, capturing her hero’s hand and tugging her towards the exit.

“Come – we must find Ally of the Azgeda.” Luna beamed.

“Err…can I get dressed first?” Raven looked down at her naked form.

 

 


	36. Final contact on A03

 

 

 

Blood war (14th Clan series) will no longer be updated on A03

I have NOT taken this decision in response to negative comments or lack of comments. I have always been aware from the start of the 14th clan that I had some very loyal readers. I myself have read fics that I’ve loved and failed to comment. So I understand the feeling of guilt - but it’s nothing to do with that.

I would NEVER let a bully dictate my writing either. And I would NEVER run and hide if I picked up a couple of trolls. Any other writers reading this, do not let these people change your work or force you to remove it. Always write YOUR story.

Honestly - I'm just going through a lot of personal upset right now. 

To Quote the lovely Dahlia,

”I think you’re wrong to want a heart. It makes most people terribly unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have one.”

Dahlia isn’t evil - she’s just suffering a broken heart like the rest of us.

 

 

Please leave me your email contact and I will send you the finished chapters of bloodwar when it’s done. Plan is to put a PDF together with illustrations. This will be FREE. Your email will not be visible on A03 as I approve comments. Anyone who’s already left an email - I have that saved.

There may be something new in the pipeline for my writing as well. So stay in touch x

 

Much love.

 

K

 

**Author's Note:**

> You really need to have read the first volume of The 14th Clan. Blood war can be "enjoyed" if you have not read the first instalment but... an awful lot simply won’t make sense. May I suggest you read the first instalment before continuing. 
> 
> Thank you for being patient. I will do my best to keep the story updated. My intention is to post multiple chapters as before. The first few chapters will focus on where the characters are up to since we last saw them. Your favourite characters will be steadily "air dropped" in throughout the early chapters.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan)- Zinnia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10962414) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan) - Jago](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10962459) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan) - Amina](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10962528) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan) - Dahlia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10962567) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan) - Ally](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11586846) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan) - Ally & Dahlia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11664021) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (The 14th Clan) - The Triplets & Ally](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770992) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (the 14th Clan)- The Princess and the Wolf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12637914) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)
  * [Blood War (the 14th Clan)- Dark Dahlia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12742443) by [braincells](https://archiveofourown.org/users/braincells/pseuds/braincells)




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